


Flying Solo

by fakeyourdecaf



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Gen, Hogwarts, Set during the goblet of fire, alchemy is a bitch, another one of those hp/fma crossovers, bc dragons, i just felt like joining the party, i kinda beat Ed up a bit but he doesn't mind, much - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-06 10:49:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 32,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11599086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fakeyourdecaf/pseuds/fakeyourdecaf
Summary: After stumbling into an alchemic experiment whilst on a mission, Ed is sent through the Gate and into a foreign world filled with magic and which defies everything he understands about alchemy and the laws equivalent exchange. Unable to understand the people, technology and the language Ed stumbles through London in search of a way back home...until the Knight Bus turns up.-Originally from ffn.net





	1. Ed makes a mistake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been wanting to write a FMA/Harry Potter crossover for ages so this is it i guess. I have a bit of a plot roughed out so let's see where this goes ...
> 
> Also, this fic slightly rejects the 2003 anime because alchemy still works in "our" world. *gasp, spoilers* because yeah.
> 
> Alsooo, I have no idea what to call this so ignore the title- I literally just saw a bird fly past and was inspired. )
> 
> Edited 7/01/18 bc wowie my writing is shittttt why did I think this was acceptable to post ewewew also if this chapter edit triggers an update notification i will scream

The silent brick corridor was nearly as dark as Mustang's hair on a rainy day. Mere wisps of sunlight managed to snake in through the small cracks in the boarded up windows, highlighting clumps of displaced dust as the two figures shuffled forward.

Every few metres a telltale flash of gold and red would slip past these spotlights then vanish back into the gloom, shuffling along next to the wall. Edward's uneven footsteps were accompanied by the muffled metal clanking of his brother's body behind him as they gradually made their way through the darkness. His flesh hand was gently brushing against the damp bricks beside him, both as a guide and in search of the door which would lead them to the middle of this vast compound. Hopefully.

Neither brother dared to speak. It was a definite sign of how deep the shit was that they were in. For at least 3 hours now, they had been trapped and on the move inside what could be considered enemy territory; an unassuming research compound a few miles out of the city. Despite the fact that Roy knew they were there and Ed had often found himself in many, much stickier situations he couldn't shake off the uneasy tension that had been building in his stomach.

The brothers had seen the kind of people who were slinking around inside this building when they'd first snuck in and one look had been enough to confirm that they were bad news. It seemed that many could use strange forms of alchemy that Ed had only ever read about in his father's books long ago and the brothers had been horrified to discover that these alchemists were researching soul transmutation- similar to what Ed had used to bind Al's soul to his armour. It seemed entirely too coincidental that Mustang had chosen to send them on this mission and now thinking back, Ed could almost picture the man's blank, innocent half smirk that he had worn as he had passed the young alchemist the mission file.

A nice, light information reconnaissance mission. Not exactly suited to your usual hit and run tactics but I thought you might be in need of a change of scenery, seeing as your own research seems to be going nowhere fast Edward.

Edward internally groaned at his officer's blatant hidden message that he'd been too distracted to realise at the time. It seemed that sending Ed on near-suicidal missions was his way of helping the teen. A lovely sentiment that would be returned in the form of an extremely illegible, handwritten report when he got back.

At last, after what felt like hours of walking in tense silence, Ed suddenly felt the rough surface of the wall dip harshly to give way to the smooth polished wood beneath his fingers. Bingo.

"This is it Al, keep watch out here. This should only take a minute to search if it's anything like the storage cupboards we found earlier. If I find anything I'll come get you. Or Yell. Depending on what I find." He whispered in the general direction of his brother.

"It's pitch black out here Ed! How can I keep watch if I can't see anything coming?" Alphonse responded nervously.

"You'll figure something out."

"Wait-"

But Ed had already slipped inside the room.

Once again, the only thing that Ed could see was black.

What the hell is up with these people and keeping all the lights off?

He was going through the motions of groping the wall in search of a light switch when his eyes began to adjust slightly and he noticed a weak blue light flickering at the far end of the room.

This glow provided just enough light to make out small shapes near the back of the vast room- a chair, a table with flasks and tubes piled haphazardly upon it, and what looked like a wide filing cabinet. It was rather nondescript and probably wasn't exactly what the Elrics were looking for (sketchy-looking floor plans, blueprints and weapon designs if Ed recalled correctly) but the cabinet was sure to contain something interesting and alchemy related at the least and Ed would need something to take back to Mustang after all. Also, he was curious. Perhaps there would be information about the Philosopher's Stone. After all, if these people were studying souls, it was likely that they would also be searching for the Stone.

Ed had taken no more than five steps into the room before he noticed the other shapes. He had been so focused upon the blue light that the three men who were crouched in the far corners of the room had gone entirely unseen. They wore dark, long robes with hoods that cast their entire faces in shadow, giving them the classic spooky cultist look.

There was no way they hadn't seen Ed but they remained still, as if they were waiting for something. This, paired with the shoddy cult clothes creeped him out slightly and Ed quickly transmuted his automail blade as a precaution. Not to be one to judge, but these guys didn't exactly look friendly.

"Hey," he cautiously made his way towards the man nearest to him. "I-"

A sudden flash of bright blue light dazzled him for a moment before he could get any closer All around him crackles of blue alchemical energy sparked and flew from the ground which he now realised in horror, had a transmutation circle drawn on it.

Idiot! How could I have missed that!

Dread pooled in his stomach and Ed made a mad dash towards the man in an attempt to get out of the circle, but the light was disorientating and blinding after the darkness before and he suddenly felt extremely heavy, as if gravity's force had decided to triple. Behind him, Ed heard the door burst open and he whipped his head round in time to see Alphonse barge into the room.

"Brother!"

All at once the force became too strong and Ed was dragged to his knees as the ground inside the circle began to disintegrate around him. He was both horrified and intrigued and couldn't help but watch in helpless terror as chunks of concrete began to break away from the floor and fall into a swirling black and blue mass beneath. That was until the floor directly beneath him began to crumble.

Ed could feel himself being sucked towards the swirling black hole but his efforts to move proved futile. Each time he found a stable piece of stone to grab, it crumbled to dust beneath his fingers. Panicked, he tried to think of something, anything that he could transmute to help him but his train of thought was cut short as his foot lost grip on the tiny ledge that was left inside the circle.

With that the rest of the ground beneath him broke away and joined the rest of the swirling debris, dragging a yelling Ed with it. The eldest Elric managed to snatch a final glimpse of his younger brother as he ran forwards, hand outstretched in a futile attempt to grab Ed before he was enveloped within the black cloud.

An all too familiar sensation of falling through nothing was accompanied by confusion. Was he being sent back to the Gate? Fear gripped him as he realised that he had no idea what that transmutation was for. It was different from the time he and Al had tried to bring their mother back as it was both the ground and himself that had been sucked inside. Nothing from outside the circle had been taken it seemed, Ed realised in relief. Al would be safe at least. Ed had no doubts that his little brother would be able to take down the alchemists with no trouble and soon after that, the extraction team which was waiting near the compound would storm the building and get him somewhere safe.

Now all Ed had to worry about was himself and the transmutation he had gate crashed. There would be a toll. No matter what those alchemists were trying to create, surely there would be a large toll to pay for coming into contact with the Gate again.

Ed could see the doors to his gate approaching quickly and frowned. Normally he seemed to just turn up in the white space where Truth resided. He had never approached it from this side before. His confusion only grew as he only seemed to speed up as he got closer to the slowly opening doors.

Black morphed into white for a split second as he sailed through the Gate. Truth was sitting on the floor, as always with a smirk on its face as it watched Ed tumble through the air above him.

"You'd better hold your breath Alchemist."

Ed had no time to respond as another Gate opened and once again he was falling through darkness. Except this time he knew he was definitely falling because below him, a city filled with lights and tangled roads was rapidly closing in.

Between the tall buildings a great murky river stretched for as far as he could see and Ed suddenly realised why Truth had told him to hold his breath. Even though the water would normally provide a better landing spot than the concrete either side of the river, with his automail limbs Ed would sink like a stone if the devastating impact didn't kill him first. Manoeuvring himself so that he would at least hit the water feet first was surprisingly difficult with his large red coat flapping around him like a seizing bat, but the physicist within him wouldn't let him just hit the water without taking some vaguely death preventative measures first. However slim Ed's chances of survival may be, he wasn't the kind to go out without a fight. Vaguely he noticed that his automail blade had retracted somewhere between his Gate and the new one and but that wasn't really at the forefront of his mind as his body collided with the frigid water.


	2. Ed goes for a swim

The impact was brutal. The moment Ed's body hit the water, any breath he had been holding was pummelled out of him with the force of an Armstrong punch to the gut. Immediately he began to sink, despite his frenzied efforts to swim upwards Ed's body simply wasn't designed for water. To make matters worse, the freezing river was so clouded with grime and dirt that it was impossible to see anything around him other than a rapidly fading smudge of light to his left, no right, no, above. Ed had no idea how far or fast he was sinking. For the third time that day, he was stranded in darkness.

Attempting to swim proved futile. It only used up what little, precious oxygen Ed had left as his heavy clothes and even heavier metal limbs dragged him deeper under water. Small, shadowy shapes flitted and darted around him with the current. They kept their distance but seemed to be watching Ed's murky descent. Just meters below the surface of the water, already his lungs seemed to want to implode and Ed could feel himself becoming lightheaded after what felt like just a few seconds. Crushing pressure gripped his chest making his ears pop and buzz and twinges of pain flashed through his muscles as lactic acid began to build up. His heart beat was pounding in his ears, adrenaline from his plummet from the gate causing it to kick into overdrive. All too soon, darkness began to flicker behind his eyes but Ed knew he couldn't give in to the feeling of needing to just breathe. Not yet. Finally, his foot touched the river bed.

Hope surged through Ed's clouded mind. A few bubbles escaped from his mouth. Now he could just transmute a pillar to push himself out of the water! His newfound hope gave him strength and fuelled his efforts as he clapped his palms together and slapped them blindly against the shifting ground beneath him. Nothing.

Another trickle of precious air bubbles escaped upwards as Ed growled in frustration and panic. He tried again. Nothing. Again. He couldn't even feel the familiar alchemic energy buzzing within him when he clapped.

Despair rapidly smothered his elation and Ed began wildly pushing up off the rocks only to be dragged down again painfully slowly. Briefly, he considered ripping off his automail but he knew that it was too late for that now.

Is this really how I die? At the bottom of a stupid lake? I survived a freaking pole through the gut for this?

A different kind of chill gripped Ed as he suddenly remembered that he and Al were barely even close to recovering Al's body. And now he was going to be done in by a bit of water! Life really loved to throw Ed a curveball or two.

The pain in his chest suddenly became too much and although he slapped a hand over his mouth and nose, Ed couldn't stop the involuntary, sharp inhale that he knew would come eventually.

Once upon a time, Ed had been told that drowning was peaceful. Whoever had told him that obviously had never drowned before and Ed found himself clutching and clawing at his throat as white hot pain seared through his chest. Tiny bubbles of air trickled past his lips, taking with them his last dregs of life and strength. Slowly, the pain ebbed away and Ed was left in a state of numbness as darkness finally won the battle. Perhaps this was what they meant when they said drowning was peaceful…

London was quiet. Early evening had fallen and the majority of the commuters had already returned home in a hurry to leave yet another dreary Monday behind. A few tourists still remained, snapping dusky shots of the Thames as the bordering streetlamps blinked on one by one. A small fishing boat rumbled slowly past, leaving a trail of foam behind.

Overall it had been an uneventful and frankly, quite disappointing day. No major political news, no great London events. Even the sun, which was usually at its best and brightest at this time in summer couldn't be bothered to show its face, leaving London cold and overcast. It was a low blow for the people of Britain who saw enough drab weather the other eleven months of the year. At least it wasn't raining. Yet.

Aboard the small fishing boat, three figures slowly paced the deck. They were heading for a dock after an unsuccessful day of fishing further down the river. The boredom of the day was catching up on them and they only kept half an eye on the familiar surroundings that they passed each day. As their little boat trundled down the river, Ben yawned and leant against the railings. The creaky wooden floor was slick beneath his feet but the water was calm and he had no worries of falling into the Thames. Their boat, McBoatalot was just gliding past the Tower of London towards Tower Bridge and Ben leant forward to watch it go past, the flag fluttering in a breeze that went unfelt by him.

A sudden yell behind him jerked him out of his bored trance and he turned back to see something large and strikingly red crash into the river. The splash was so big that Ben felt a light spray on his hand and with a jolt he realised that it had been a person who had fallen.

Urgently he skidded over to Vanessa, his younger sister who was driving the boat and tapped on the glass window to get her attention.

"Hey, I think we've got a jumper out here! Stop the boat! "

He made his way back to the edge of the boat and was surprised to see that the figure hadn't resurfaced yet. There was no sign of them in the surrounding water either but there was no way that they had already swum to the shore. A few more seconds ticked past and Ben watched the water with growing anxiety. At the twenty second mark he realised that they weren't going to come up. Tower Bridge was just above them and it was entirely possible that this was a suicide jump. Whilst uncommon, they were not unheard of here. However, screams usually accompanied the jumper when the people on the bridge realised what they were doing but Ben couldn't make out anything other than the usual rumble of traffic coming from the popular tourist spot. His cousin Tony had just arrived beside him, phone in hand and frantically scanning the water next to Ben.

A cluster of bubbles broke the surface of the water and Ben suddenly came to a decision.

"I'm going in." he declared to Tony, who looked stricken.

Quickly, he yanked off his trainers and jacket then grabbed a length of rope they used for tethering. He wound it once around his torso, securing it with a hardy knot, then tossed the end to Tony. There was no time to call the police now, and every second lost was precious. The person had been under the water for at least a minute, if not more and they must have been attached to something heavy to prevent them from naturally floating to the surface. Thankfully, the weather was calm and the current was much slower than usual so with any luck, they wouldn't have drifted too far by now.

"If I'm not up in two minutes or I tug twice, pull me up, alright." He instructed Tony then without another thought, dived into the water. Cold and salt stung his eyes and it was nearly impossible to see anything through the dirt, but Ben forced himself to keep them open as he swum downwards, searching for the flash of red he had seen earlier.

A movement to his left caught his attention and he swum towards it frantically. He was pretty sure he had nearly reached the bottom of the deep river, which was a feat in itself and he hoped that he would find the person soon. If he had to come back down for a second search, he was certain that it would be too late. Blindly, he reached out into the water around him, searching until his hand struck something solid. He knew he was reaching his minute and a half mark now and could feel the painful strain on his lungs so he prayed that this was the person. There was no way for him to check in the dark water so instead he tightly gripped the object and tugged at the rope around his chest with his free hand.

Immediately the rope around him tightened and he began ascending quickly. The river wasn't too deep so he wasn't worried about getting the bends, however he noted that whatever he was holding was extremely heavy. It took both hands to stop him from losing his grip and he began to worry that he had picked up a scrap steel pole instead.

His worries quickly dissolved as he broke the surface and saw that he was holding what was obviously a forearm with a gloved hand attached. He felt Tony's hands drag him back onto the boat where he all but threw the body down next to him as he gulped for air. Garish red and gold attacked his eyes. If he hadn't already been gasping for breath, Ben would have gasped at the sight of the teenager beside him. Who wasn't breathing. Immediately he snapped back into action, thinking back to the compulsory CPR training he had received at school and beginning chest compressions on the boy. A number of tense minutes passed as Ben continuously went through the cycle of check for breathing, mouth to mouth, chest compressions, repeat. He could feel Tony hovering above him, ready with blankets and at some point Vanessa also emerged from the cabin to watch.

Over five minutes later Ben was about to give up when he saw the boy's eyes roll beneath his closed lids. A few seconds later he began gasping and coughing and water began to trickle out of his mouth. Ben gently rolled him onto his side and a gush of murky water spilled onto the deck of the boat. When eventually the boy's hacking subsided to a somewhat gentler chesty cough, he turned to face the man who had pulled him from the river. His lips moved slightly as he tried to say something but was interrupted by anther coughing fit.

Despite the fact that the boy still had a horrific cough, the crew of McBoatalot sighed in relief at the realisation that they now wouldn't have to face explaining a dead teenager on their boat to the police boat which was currently heading their way.

I need a cuppa was Tony's only thought as he collapsed in a small wooden chair next to the boy.

Air.

Ed felt gross as he roughly jerked awake. He was wet, tired and could literally smell himself but that didn't matter because he could breathe. Also he wasn't dead. How wonderfully unexpected.

His happiness was short lived once again when an uncomfortable feeling in his chest caused him to cough gently. That gentle cough soon morphed into hacking as water bubbled like acid up his throat and he felt like he was drowning again. A harsh tug on his shoulder pushed him onto his side and Ed felt the water finally leave his battered lungs and trickle out of his mouth. Great. Now he was puking. Add that to his list of reasons of why he felt gross.

Finally, the pain faded and Ed was able to get his breathing under control again. He cracked open his eyes, which he only realised now were tightly shut and looked round to see a man kneeling next to him. He looked to be about thirty and was sopping wet. Ah. He must have been the one who had pulled Ed out.

Without thinking, Ed tried to croak out a "thank you" but once again his stomach lurched and throat tightened and Ed could only focus on trying to breathe again. The man seemed to get the message however and lightly patted his shoulder before standing up wearily and motioning to another man. A scratchy blanket found its way around Ed's shoulders and he was guided to lean against a crate in the middle of the boat. He chose to remain silent in case he irritated his lungs any further and caused another coughing fit so instead he just watched the people as they worked on their little boat. Every now and then they would cast a glance and a smile his way which Ed returned weakly. He tried to listen to what they were saying- they were obviously talking about him- but he quickly realised that they were using a different language. A few words stood out to him as names, but the rest held no meaning to him. This was definitely going to cause a problem.

A stuttering sigh escaped Ed's lips as he gently lent his head back against the crate and closed his eyes. He was exhausted. In spite of everything that had happened up till now, he felt peaceful and safe and since it seemed that he would be stuck on this boat for the foreseeable future, Ed took a moment to gauge his situation.

If it were up to Ed, he would already be off this boat and gone. In his mind he obviously needed to begin researching immediately if he had any hope of getting back home. Somehow, those alchemists had managed to send him through not just one Gate, but two and now he was stuck in an entirely new world. What kind of transmutation they had performed, Ed had no clue, but that was certainly the first thing he needed to figure out.

First task: get off this boat. Ed knew that there was a slim chance of that any time soon though; these people seemed like the nice kind of folk who would probably force him to get checked out by doctors after his close call in the river. They just gave off that kind of vibe. Also the girl with blue hair kept offering him a flask filled with tea.

A quiet rumble that was quickly growing louder grabbed Ed's attention and he looked up to see another boat speeding towards them. The woman with blue hair ran to the railings at the sound and waved to them. She shouted something above the roar of the engines as the boat pulled up alongside them and two people dressed in strange uniforms hopped over. One immediately began talking to the woman and the other came over to him and began speaking gentle gibberish. Ed must have looked confused because she visibly slowed down and elongated every syllable of gibberish she spoke. As if that would help. It might even have been funny if Ed hadn't suddenly felt extremely nauseous and dizzy. It was so suddenly intense that he couldn't help the soft groan as he lent forward slightly and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes in an attempt to offset the feeling.

Apparently this was not the right thing to do because the woman started yelling at her friend the moment he closed his eyes. Didn't she get the message that he just needed a moment? Irritated, he snapped his eyes back open and glared at the woman. By now his throat felt better so he dared speaking to show her that he couldn't speak her language. Of course this meant listing all of the cuss words he knew because, if she had no idea what he was saying there was no harm venting.

Finally, finally understanding, the woman fell silent with a slow nod and began pulling items out of her bag, showing them to Ed in silence. She explained what she was doing with gestures and demonstrations as she worked through what Ed assumed was the typical treatment for someone who had nearly drowned. Although a bit disgruntled, Ed decided not to refuse this medical treatment seeing as he had nowhere else to go and this woman seemed thoroughly determined to help him. That was until she began poking him and Ed made the snap decision that he didn't want these people to know about his automail. He wasn't self-conscious of it or anything like that, but he had no idea how these people would react to it. It would certainly raise some questions that he literally wouldn't be able to answer. Perhaps he was being paranoid but it didn't hurt to be cautious right?

By the time the boat bumped against a mooring post, the moon was up and the city had lit up with artificial light. Ed had no idea what time it was but it was late and he realised that he had nowhere to go. He didn't particularly mind; he and Al had often slept rough in unknown cities whilst travelling but in unknown worlds? Not so much.

The medical woman had left a while ago, seeming confident that he was more or less okay despite his near-death. He had shaken her hand and smiled when she was packing away her equipment, which she seemed to take as thanks, then she left with her colleague on their green and white boat. Ed was also about to make a sneaky departure when the man from before appeared from nowhere, tapped him on the shoulder and beckoned for him to follow. Ed noticed that the man's clothes were now dry which he envied slightly as he was lead into a small cabin space in the middle area of the boat. Inside, a small fold out bed with more scratchy blankets was set up and the man pointed to it sternly. He seemed to know that Ed would try to refuse, and refuse Ed did, vigorously shaking his head as politely as he could. He wasn't one to usually turn down a bit of help but he honestly felt that he had ruined these poor people's day enough by dropping in. A silent battle ensued between the two and if Ed hadn't been so exhausted he might have won, however he could feel his eyelids drooping as he stood there. The man could also see this and gently got Ed to sit down on the creaky mattress before he could continue with his stubborn antics. As soon as he sat down, Ed decided that it wasn't worth the effort to end up sleeping on a bench. He quietly thanked the man then lay down facing the wall. He heard the door creak shut and just before sleep worked its magic, wondered what Al was doing back home.


	3. Ed makes some friends

Ed woke up the next morning feeling utterly sick. Still aboard the boat, he felt every little rock and sway of the cabin as the little boat was thrown about on the swirling water. An early morning downpour, which was only just settling now seemed a likely culprit for the river's angry state- which aggravated Ed's stomach more than he would care to admit. He supposed the dirty salt water he had swallowed yesterday wasn't helping much either. The cabin floor rolled with the current, sending his gut churning but Ed managed to groggily manoeuvre himself into a sitting position so that he could peer through the window next to the bed. A quick peek between the crooked paper curtains gave him a rough estimate of the time; around six o'clock by the looks of it, an orangey blush beginning to creep slowly across the horizon. The boat was silent. None of the residents were awake yet, which suited Ed just fine- the alchemist spent all of about three seconds deciding that now would be a perfect opportunity to do a runner.

He didn't want to be rude, especially after these people had saved his ass just a few hours earlier, however Ed knew that it would be for the best if he left as soon as possible. Wherever he went, trouble was sure to follow and he didn't want to start dragging random fishing families into his problems. Also, despite everything, Ed was excited. He was in an entirely new world filled with a staggering amount of technology he had never even seen before. Perhaps even alchemy was more advanced here as well? The more Ed thought about it, the more he realised the endless possibilities of this new world- maybe it could even hold the key to restoring Al's body!

This single thought spurred Ed into action. Ignoring a niggling feeling in the back of his head, he leapt up off the creaky bed with all the bravado of someone who had definitely not nearly drowned the day before and quietly clunked his way over to the cabin door. It was a small relief to realise that his automail was still functioning normally and Ed made a mental note that he would need to clean the joints at the next opportunity.

Flakes of dried paint crumbled and fell to the floor where Ed's hand brushed the door handle. A sense of deja vu suddenly washed over him as he peered cautiously behind it but to Ed's relief there was only a single sleeping figure on the deck of the boat. The man who had pulled him from the water was sprawled uncomfortably in a fold out chair, his head lolled to the side at an awkward angle. Ed silently prayed for the man's neck as he snuck past. It would definitely hurt when he woke up.

It was easy for Ed to slink past the dozing man and he hastily made his way off of the boat before he could feel guilty about leaving. Despite his best efforts a small stab, a pinprick really, of guilt settled in Ed's stomach as he allowed himself to get lost in the rapidly growing crowds on land. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear Al berating him for leaving without thanking the family properly but Ed just chuckled at the familiar memory of his brother and managed to convince himself that that stab of guilt was just a hunger pang because hell, he was hungry. He hadn't eaten for over thirty-six hours. With the thought of food now occupying the majority of the Elric's mind, he set off along the river front in search of sustenance.

It was nearly noon by the time Ed had found something edible. Whilst this city was certainly not lacking in places to eat- there was at least one café visible wherever he went- Ed knew that he wouldn't be able to buy anything. He had no money after all. Back in Amestris, his mission hadn't called for cash so he hadn't taken any with him, and anyway, he could just charge any restaurant bill back to the military if necessary. That way, Mustang would be the one to deal with the finance. Needless to say, all Ed had on him were the clothes on his back and his ever present pocket watch. This left him with little choice, so when he came across a small hot dog cart with the owner turned away he took his chance and swiped a couple. This city was full of thousands of tourists it seemed, so Ed was pretty sure he hadn't robbed the man of a meal by stealing two measly hot dogs.

With his food needs taken care of (for now), Ed set about with his next important task. Finding a library. He had a whole new language barrier to overcome before he could start with any meaningful research and Ed knew that the only way he could get back to his own world would be if he found his own way there. His first step would have to be learning this new language and that would all start at a library. That being said, finding one would be a lot easier said than done in an enormous city and there was no guarantee that it wouldn't be guarded by military personnel like the Central Library in Amestris. Ed seriously hoped that that wasn't the case because it had been one hell of a job to actually get into the military and that was not the kind of time he had right now. Luckily, it seemed that there was little military presence in the city at all. In fact, Ed hadn't seen anyone even remotely military-looking since he had arrived. He wasn't sure whether that was reassuring or worrying.

Ed's search for a library lead him wildly across the city, from one alleyway to another. It seemed hopeless. Every building looked like a variant of the same thing to Ed, with high walls made more of glass than brick and every road leading down another identical street. It was dizzying and alienating and totally different from anything Ed had ever seen during his travels back home. The people were just as peculiar. Everyone wore strange clothes and carried around little boxes. For now, Ed couldn't bring himself to care what they were but he made a mental note to find out in the future. They would surely have interested Winry.

What seemed like hours of aimless walking later, Ed felt no closer to finding a library. He was lost in a maze of concrete, dipping in and out of any building which looked public, some of which were not. His automail joints were aching and he was sure he looked like a mess but he trudged on regardless, ignoring the wary glances of passers-by. He was so focused on looking for this damn library that when he eventually passed the innocent looking entrance, he almost stormed straight past it. Ed's mind took a few seconds to catch up with his feet and he skidded to an abrupt halt in the middle of the pathway. A collection of muffled angry voices drifted up from the crowd behind Ed but he ignored them and instead bolted back to the small staircase. He stuck his face against the glass door to peer inside and confirm what he thought he had seen. Books. Hundreds upon hundreds of the things were neatly stacked on shelves as high as the ceiling.

The receptionist- a middle aged man with barely a single hair on his head looked rather shocked as Ed flounced inside after aggressively kicking the door open hard enough to make the glass panels rattle. A hurried greeting of "good afternoon" was lost on the petite blond who spared the bewildered man less than half a glance before making his way towards the first shelf of books.

Ed quickly dismissed the entire front section of the library. It was filled to the brim with shiny new fiction novels which were of absolutely no use to him. He didn't even need to be able to understand the language to be able to tell that they were fiction. The covers were enough.

He made his way meticulously down each isle after that, scanning each book for a single word he might recognise and shoving them onto the trolley he didn't remember picking up. By the time he decided he had enough books, he was barely a fifth of the way through the expansive treasure trove. His trolley had at least sixty books, ranging from small novella to full on medical dictionary sized books. Somewhere along the way a few maps had hopped on for a ride and Ed made plans to copy them up for future reference in case he got lost. Again.

After that, time stopped for a while as Ed became consumed within his pile of literature, studying anything he could understand. For now he wasn't too concerned about finding alchemy books specifically and was more focused upon deciphering this new language- he was glad that he at least didn't have to learn a new alphabet. Ed was barely surprised that Amestrian didn't even seem to exist here. He had found a number of thick, worn books sporting various words which were strikingly similar however and Ed noted down the title "Latin Dictionary" in his little notebook. A while later, he found another book sporting more familiar words- "German for beginners." Along with another few books which were written in a similar language to Xingese, Ed was finally able to decipher some meaning from this strange new language he now knew to be called "English".

All too soon, a gentle but firm hand on his flesh shoulder rudely pulled Ed out of his study-trance. He whipped round violently to face whoever had disturbed him, armed with his best death glare which was somewhat diminished in its intimidation when his braid decided to slap him in the eye. Ed was defiant however, and kept glaring despite the fact that his left eye was now red and watery. Behind him stood the middle aged librarian, still looking frazzled. Ed wondered if he always looked like that or if it was just the effect he had on people. He decided on the latter.

Ernie, whose name was now clearly visible on a small name tag, seemed clueless to the fact that Ed did not speak his language and was speaking in a hushed tone. Despite not having even a slight grasp on the language yet, Ed decided that this was the perfect time to test out a couple of the new words he had literally just learned. He quickly held up a finger in Ernie's face then turned back to his papers and found the phrase he had concocted and assumed was appropriate.

"Uhh... I not the English."

Ed was genuinely surprised when the older man's face suddenly softened with understanding. A cheesy grin plastered the teens face at the realisation that he had actually said something understandable and Eric returned the smile easily. The moment soon vanished as he resumed trying to communicate with Ed, this time through gestures which mostly involved vigorously tapping his wrist watch.

Ed frowned at him slightly then looked out of the window, barely surprised to see that it was now dark despite the fact that the sun had been high and bright when he had arrived at the library. He was irritated that he had to leave his work so soon but he took the hint and gathered his stuff to leave without too much fuss. He still piton his usual theatrics though. It was still warm outside, perhaps a bit humid, but Ed was no stranger to sleeping rough -he and Al had done it numerous times before. Ed would just wait until the library opened again and resume his studies in the morning.

It was two weeks later that Ed realised that something was wrong. Up until then, he had been too busy adjusting to life in this new world to realise that something was amiss and of course, it was only when he ran into trouble that he suddenly became aware of his inability to perform alchemy. He had been on his way back to a quiet spot in an alley behind the library late in the evening. At the time, it had seemed like an ideal spot; secluded and shadowy, near to the library, away from the majority of the tourists, and Ed had slept there the previous night with no trouble. This night however, he arrived to find two men who were obviously drunk stumbling out of the entrance. Ed paid them no heed and slunk past them, assuming that they would continue walking away. A moment later however, Ed felt a rough tug on his hair then found himself roughly pulled back by his braid and flung against a wall. The blow was not too forceful fortunately, but Ed still had to take a moment to comprehend what had just happened. Before Ed could retaliate, the man violently pushed his forearm against Ed's chest, effectively pinning him against the wall and proceeded to shout slurred words in the boy's face.

Ed had no idea what the man was saying but could tell that he was angry. Unfazed but still confused, Ed looked at the other man and saw him rifling through his pockets in obvious distress then turn to glare at Ed. Oh great, they think I stole his wallet.

Ed began to panic slightly when the pressure on his chest suddenly became painful and reminded himself that his lungs were still recovering from their swim in the river. An array suddenly popped into his head, nothing fancy, just a simple transmutation which would get the man off of him, and Ed clapped his palms together out of habit. A feeling of gut wrenching dread buried itself in Ed's stomach the moment his hands touched to form the circle. It was a feeling he had felt only a few times before- when he was still a novice alchemist and when he had tried to transmute his mother. Something was wrong and the transmutation was going to fail. Ed's hands were already on the wall behind him, intending to send a signature pillar of brick into the man's face by the time he registered the feeling and by then it was too late. A sudden burst of light crackled and sparked from the wall, not unlike a normal transmutation, then an uncontrollable flood of energy seemed to pour from the point where Ed's hands touched the wall. Sulphur-yellow light burned his flesh but Ed couldn't make either of his hands move. He had heard the horror stories of people transmuting with an error in their array and their life force being consumed until they burned out. But Ed knew that his array was perfect, it was the standard one he used every time he transmuted a brick wall.

Ed weakly registered that the two drunk men had now left, scrambling away the moment they saw the blinding light. He supposed they had decided that their wallets were not worth the trouble of confronting a glowing boy so in a way, he had achieved what he intended, just in a very different way. Just when Ed felt like he was about to pass out, the light dimmed then blinked out with a final explosive surge of power which flung Ed against the opposite wall. He was left in complete darkness. White spots swirled behind his eyes for a few seconds as he slid slowly down the wall, exhausted and shaky from his close call. He sat with his knees drawn close to his chest and tightly gripped his forearms in an attempt to stop the slight tremor in his hands. Never before had something like that happened. The only time Ed had come that close to death from his own transmutation was on that day and even then, this felt completely different. This was completely different. At least back then he had known the risks and was aware that it was a dangerous transmutation. Never before had his alchemy felt so foreign.

It made Ed feel empty and vulnerable to realise that something he had always relied on to be there could now potentially kill him. He shuddered to think of what might have happened if he had attempted something bigger or more intricate like erecting a wall or transmuting his automail blade. And now he realised, getting back to Amestris would be even more difficult without alchemy. Ed let out a groan and let his head fall to rest on his knees. There had to be a way to get his alchemy back under control. He wracked his frazzled brains for an answer, meticulously dissecting the array he had used, searching for an error in his calculations. He even ran his hand across the wall but it looked exactly the same as regular brick if not slightly singed. No matter how hard he thought, he came up with no reason as to why his alchemy should have failed. All variables were the same…except one. This new world. Dammit! Mustang will pay for sending me on that mission.

Sirens in the distance interrupted Ed's tumbling thoughts. At first he thought nothing of them as they had recently become a background noise that he heard every day. Moments later blue flashing lights appeared a few streets away and were rapidly closing in. It dawned upon Ed that the people of this world might not appreciate random bright lights and explosions and just by looking around it would be obvious where it came from. Debris and brick lay scattered across the floor and small splatters of blood accompanied them. Ed was confused as to where the blood came from- he was certain he hadn't injured either of the two men, but right now he had to skedaddle. It would take the police mere minutes to find him and although Ed's English had improved over the past few weeks, he knew he wouldn't have a chance of talking himself out of this situation.

Painfully slowly, Ed uncurled and staggered upright, swaying and leaning heavily against the wall for support. He battled a sudden wave of nausea and began shuffling into the alley, away from the crime scene. He knew this place fairly well and there were a number of small side roads and other alleys which he could use to lose the police on his trail whilst staying away from the main roads. This proved to be a good plan when after just five minutes of walking a police car flew past on the parallel road. Ed was only just hidden by a low wall.

Ed must have walked for an hour by the time his legs gave out. He had no idea where he was and the only shelter in sight was an entrance to the underground train station Ed had discovered a few days prior. He knew it was a bad idea but he was exhausted and couldn't keep walking much longer, so he limped his way down the stairs and settled down a small distance away from the entrance where he could still watch the outside world. Somewhere in the back of his mind he recalled that sleeping would be a bad idea if he was potentially concussed but at that moment he couldn't bring himself to care.


	4. Ed rolls around

Waking up feeling like crap seemed to be becoming a regular occurrence for Edward. It was early but even the dim lights in the underground made him squint and his mind felt hazy and slow. Despite this, Ed had no trouble recalling the events of the night before in all of its horrific detail. For the first time since he had landed on this side of the gateEd felt a little hopeless. He was out of ideas and without his alchemy on his side he felt exposed. Once again he found himself wondering what Al was up to right now back in Amestris. Had he managed to escape the compound they had been investigating?

Of course he did. I'd bet he's looking for me right now. Probably got Mustang involved too. When I get back, that bastard's getting all my paperwork.

Ed spent a while following that train of thought to distract himself whilst he sat on the damp floor of the train station. He wasn't really sure what to do next as he couldn't go back to his usual spot near the library- in fact it would be better to get as far away as possible, but he didn't know where else he could go. Two weeks had definitely not been long enough to learn much of the language he now knew as English, even with the help of that nice librarian, and what little money he had pickpocketed or found was barely enough to take him up the street. For a moment, Ed just sat where he was, gingerly resting his pounding head against the wall and watching the station as it began to fill up with more and more people.

It was barely five minutes later when Ed decided he'd had enough of the glances that the people around him threw his way. It was always the same look; sideways and anxious. It was interesting to see that even across gates, some things never changed; nobody dared look a homeless person in the eye. Ed supposed it was out of fear of the social obligation to give them some change.

In spite of the pounding in his head which only became worse as he made to stand, Ed gathered his coat up and slowly made his way back out into the open. Wearily, he fished his sliver watch from deep within his pocket and flicked it open. The poor device had sustained numerous nicks and scratches over the years and now Ed could see at least three injuries that hadn't been there two weeks ago. It was almost a miracle that the thing wasn't completely destroyed yet but Ed guessed that if you were going to give a state alchemist, well…anything, it had better be sturdy.

As he looked at the clock face Ed realised why he felt like shit. It was only five in the morning. Given the fact that it was well past midnight when he had arrived at the underground the night before, Ed concluded that he had had a grand total of roughly three hours sleep. If it could even be called sleep.

Pulling up his hood to blot out as much of the glare from the street lamps lining the path, Ed set off in a random direction. A thin sheet of mist obscured everything that wasn't a few feet in front of him and it was only once Ed found himself back at The River that he knew where he was. Sort of. The buildings were different and he was on the wrong side but at least he had a general idea of where not to go now.

Ed managed to walk about two miles before his automail leg port started acting up. Another half a mile and the constant small, shooting pains in his leg stump, paired with his killer headache forced Ed to stop for a moment to take a breather. He was fully aware that recently, he had been neglecting maintenance on his automail and it seemed that now was the time to pay the price. Equivalent exchange and all that.

The road Ed had chosen to stop in was narrow. As he sat on the curb to give his leg a once over he noticed that the houses were so close together that there was barely room for a single car to pass between them. Briefly he wondered how the residents could even handle driving in such a confined space as many driveways had large, fancy cars parked on them. It was obviously a rich part of the city; tucked away just far enough from the large glass buildings that you could be fooled onto thinking you were in the suburbs. If this world even had suburbs. Perhaps the whole country was like one giant city, Ed mused. He hadn't seen much of it yet so it was entirely possible.

Edward's thoughts were interrupted a moment later by an almighty screeching coming from down the road. It was the sound of a machine in distress and it was the kind of noise that would have made Winry throw a wrench at whoever was in charge of the upkeep of the machine. Alarmed, Ed jumped up and rolled down his trouser leg to hide his automail, watching as two bright lights made their way rapidly through the mist towards him. Ed was ready to bolt back the way he had come if the lights turned out to be the police but he had to admit that he was also intrigued as to what on earth could have made that ungodly noise. He certainly wasn't expecting to see a large purple bus appear out of the gloom.

Alarmed, Ed was struck with the sudden thought that the bus was kind of ugly as he watched the it hurtle down the tiny road towards him. He was completely at a loss as to how that monster of a vehicle could even fit down the street without knocking a few bricks off the houses.

A moment of panic passed as Ed's brain helpfully pointed out that there was no way the bus could stop in time at the current speed it was going at, and that if he didn't want to become an Ed pancake he'd better move. Not a second too soon, Ed flung himself back onto the pavement just at the bus screeched to a stop exactly where he had just been standing.

Speechless and slightly horrified, Ed could only watch as a greasy looking man stumbled off the bus and began lazily reciting something from the back of a strip of paper. If Ed had thought that he had even a slight grasp on this language, all hopes of that were quickly put to rest as the man slurred at him. He picked up a few words like "you" and "bus" but everything else was completely lost on the blond who just sat there. Eventually the man seemed to realise that the kid in front of him wasn't following a thing he was saying and he sighed deeply. In jerky movements he pointed a dirty fingernail at Ed then jammed his thumb back at the bus. A simple enough message. Get on. Ed was skeptical however. This was pretty shady, even for him but Ed could see other people inside and with his leg was still being a bitch, decided to hell with it and hopped onto the rickety bus.

The moment Ed was mostly stable, the bus lurched forward again and Ed just managed to grab hold of a pole before he was sent flying through a window. Now that he was inside, Ed could see just how grotty this thing was. There was a dingy, musty feeling and something smelt…off. The furnishings gave the impression of being in a house of someone who desperately wanted to look rich but couldn't quite pull it off, making the whole place seem disjointed and unplanned. Someone definitely needed to hire a new interior decorator. Ed wrinkled his nose.

A sudden violent lurch drew the teen's attention to the world flashing past outside the bus. Most of the other cars were passed so rapidly they were a blur and Ed had no idea how they weren't hitting any other road users, let alone buildings. Every time they seemed destined to crash the bus missed the obstacle by a whisker. It was almost as if the objects themselves were moving out of the way of the bus but that was impossible. Lamp posts couldn't just uproot themselves. Ed just put it down to the fact that his view was obscured by the quickly thickening mist.

It suddenly came to Ed's attention that he no idea where he was going. This pushed his earlier thoughts out of his mind and he considered trying to ask the conductor-man when he should get off. He was fairly sure he had the right vocabulary for that but there was no guarantee that he would be able to understand the man's reply. His eyes wandered over to where the man was standing, reading a newspaper at the end of the bus, seemingly unfazed by the erratic and frankly dangerous driving. He wasn't even holding on to anything. A strange movement then caught his eye and Ed squinted at the man's newspaper. Frowning, Ed made his way forward slowly, making sure to have hold of something stable at all times but never taking his eyes away from the paper.

The man didn't even notice Ed until the boy was right in front of him, poking at the paper which hid him from view with a determined look on his face. Ed's sudden appearance startled the conductor who wasn't used to being snuck up on by small children but other than a dirty look he ignored Ed and continued reading.

Ed on the other hand had just witnessed something he thought was impossible. The picture on the front of the newspaper was moving! And not just flicking backwards and forwards between frames like an old cartoon- this picture was as if someone had inserted a snippet of life into the paper. The picture itself wasn't particularly remarkable, just a few men walking through a street, but Ed was so intrigued that he forgot to keep his grip on the pole next to him.

One moment he was peering at the moving newspaper, the next he was face planted against a grimy window as the bus screamed and screeched to a stop, just missing a small tabby cat which was sitting in the road. Ed felt a tap on his shoulder and peeled himself away from the glass to see the conductor gesturing towards the exit. This was his stop. Ed had never been happier to get off a vehicle in his life and that included the time he had travelled in the same car as Mustang. That man could not drive for shit.

With no luggage, Ed quickly scurried off the bus before the driver decided to take off again with him still inside. The street he had ended up in was almost as dingy as the bus and the flickering street lamps sent an eerie shine through the mist. Once again, Ed felt a bit lost. He noticed that the tabby was still sitting in the road and Ed started towards it. He wasn't really sure why, but the cat reminded him of Al so when it started walking towards a large building which looked like one of the many inns back in Amestris, he followed it inside.

The inn was just like any other inn Ed had been to. Homely, dark, filled with people. Ed felt more secure than he had in days. This was a setting he knew. Strangely, the cat had disappeared but Ed didn't think much of it, it had led him here and now Ed could mostly function on his own. He remembered the small amount of money in his pocket and had an idea. Since Ed had no idea about the value of all of the different coins and notes that were used here as money, he had saved a few from his pickpocketing and now had a small pocket full of change. He wasn't sure that it would be enough to buy anything but it was worth a try so he sauntered up to the bar and placed the money on the table. The bar tender looked at him strangely for a moment before gingerly taking the money and counting it. Ed held his breath that it would be enough for at least one night but his heart dropped as the man began talking to him. He groaned then flat out interrupted the bar tender before he could say any more.

"Different language here buddy, I don't know what you're saying." He said in the first Amestrian he had really spoken since arriving here. It felt good to actually talk to someone, even though he know they didn't know what he was saying either.

For what seemed like the thousandth time since Ed had arrived, the man made a little "o" shape with his mouth as he realised the language barrier between them. For some reason this made the man seem a little less hostile towards him as well. It was probably due to this as well as his, ahem, short stature that made the bar tender take pity on him, leaning back to take a key from a small rack behind the bar. He gestured at Ed who swiftly hopped off the bar stool he had been perching on and followed the man up a flight of stairs, away from the noise and hubbub in the main pub area.

The room he was shown to was small, with a single bed and simple furnishings. It was nice and a world away from Ed's usual lodgings of the concrete stairs outside someone's house. He realised that he must look like crap right now. Thinking back, that was probably the reason why the bar man hadn't seemed particularly pleased to see him. With this in mind, Ed made his way to the tiny bathroom next to his room and one look in the mirror told him all he needed to know. He looked gross. His hair was greasy and tangled, there was mud on his face and clothes and there was still blood on him from his scuffle the night before. He also became aware of the fact that he smelled like shit.

One of the perks of sleeping outside Ed thought cheerily.

It seemed like a heaven sent miracle that there was a shower in the bathroom and Ed barely hesitated before stripping off his clothes and turning it on full blast. He pretended that he didn't mind the fact that the water was freezing because this was the first clean water he had used in weeks, but he did gradually turn the temperature dial up to a more pleasant level. A full hour was spent in that shower, washing away all of the stress and anger and so much dirt Holy hell from the past two weeks of his life and by the end of it, Ed was in a much better mood. He had also had a few shower thoughts about what could be up with his alchemy that he would try out later. Right now however, he had two things to see to. First was his automail which was still twinging and the other was sleep.

Ed sat down on the slightly lumpy bed in the corner of the room and carefully opened the back of his automail leg to reveal a small switch. Ed absolutely hated disconnecting and reconnecting his limbs himself but he knew that it was necessary. With an absence of Winry, Ed would have to be extra careful with his automail whilst in this world, and that included maintenance. Grimacing, Ed flicked open the switch and an abundance of other gadgets and gismos that kept the leg in place then began tugging it out of the port. He was less gentle than Winry normally was and was rewarded with a few flashes of pain travelling down his stump before the limb was finally free. And hey, disconnecting the limb properly was a hell of lot less painful than having it yanked out. (Cough cough, Barry, cough)

Ed took a moment to compose himself and wiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead with a slightly shaky hand. There was a reason he hated wearing this stuff. The next hour was spent working on the leg; fixing frayed wires, cleaning rusty joints and tightening bolts. There was a limit to how much he could do without any tools or alchemy, but by the time he was finished, Ed was satisfied that the leg wouldn't be a problem for a while. It took another two hours for Ed to complete the same procedure on his arm and then the two ports and by the time he had finished, Ed was absolutely exhausted. The moment his arm was reattached, he collapsed onto the bed and without bothering to turn the light out, simply became dead to the world.

Ed slept for a full ten hours. He would have kept on sleeping if it hadn't been for a commotion in the corridor outside his room. The voices of birds were overpowered by the rough voices of men shouting and Ed gracefully rolled out of his bed, onto the floor and kept rolling till he got to the door to listen to what was happening. Drama was always fun to listen to even when you couldn't understand it.

The argument seemed to be between two men who were screaming at each other like banshees. One had a slightly higher voice and Ed found himself silently rooting for that one in his head as things seemed to take a more violent turn. There was some banging and louder footsteps, then the sound of a body hitting the floor, accompanied by more yelling. Ed was beginning to get worried that they were going to do some serious damage to the building when the familiar voice of the bartender came to the rescue. The commotion immediately fell silent and Ed knew that that was the end of that. Opposing the barman was never a good thing, especially one with that glare.

Thoroughly awake now, Ed got up off the floor and made to leave his room. It was once again very early morning because Ed had stupidly gone to bed during the day, but at least that gave him more exploration time. Nodding at the barman on his way out, Ed left through the same door he had used to enter. He had seen numerous people leaving through a back entrance but they didn't seem like the kind of people he wanted to follow into a confined space.

For the next few months, Ed's life fell back into the pattern he had had before with the exception of now having a semi-permanent residence at the inn which he mysteriously hadn't paid for since he had arrived. Ed wasn't complaining however, and spent most of his days holed up in a small library he had found nearby. It wasn't as big or extensive as the one vack in the main city but bit by bit Ed found himself understanding more and more English. One evening he had even managed to hold a small conversation with the barman he now knew as Tom before he was interrupted by a burley group of drunk men asking for food.

During these few months Ed had also witnessed numerous questionable things. Many of the residents here at the "Leaky Cauldron" (a name which Ed thought was ridiculous) carried around sticks and were often dressed strangely in hats and robes. Animals such as owls and rats were also a common occurrence and Tom barely even batted an eye when a petite woman with a great brute of a dog walked in one evening. However, all of that was topped one evening when Ed witnessed a fairly young man prod his hat with his stick and the entire thing just changed colour. Ed was in the public bathroom at the time and had checked the scene thoroughly after for any trace of alchemy but he could find none.

From that moment on he was very aware of the strange people with sticks, following them around, watching them and attempting to listen in to whatever of their conversations he could understand. And that had lead him to his current predicament.

Magic.

Ed shook his head. Nope, there is no way that this is magic. Magic isn't real! Ed couldn't let himself believe that magic actually existed, yet that was the only explanation he could get out of these people. Magic. Magic. That was the only word he heard on a daily basis, but it just couldn't exist! Magic by its very nature, bypassed the laws of equivalent exchange and almost gave people the power of a philosopher's stone! Magic wasn't just something that Ed didn't believe in, it was something he couldn't afford to believe in. Magic was in fairy tales and anyone who believed otherwise was mad.

I must be mad. Ed therefore concluded as he stepped out from his hiding place behind some bins after watching a pair of stick-wielders form an arch in a brick wall. This moment had taken days to plan. Too many times Ed had seen people disappear into this courtyard, never to return again and now he thought knew why. He waited for the stick men to leave before darting through the arch into a bustling street. Behind him, Ed heard the grating sound of brick on brick and whipped round to see the arch had disappeared. Well, there was definitely no going back now.

Walking down this street was immediately one of the strangest things Ed had ever done. Every single shop that had been crammed onto this already overflowing street had something to do with this magic madness. Pet shops with unnameable creatures, trinket shops that moved, sweet shops that exploded and there was even a shop with brooms displayed in the windows as if they were fine ornaments.

All at once everything became just a bit too much for Ed. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to laugh, or cry, or scream, because right in front of him was an impossible street. It just couldn't exist. Everywhere he turned, there was magic. Magic. Magic. MAGIC. But magic was impossible. Right? Everything Ed had ever known and believed in was currently screaming at him that this. Was. Wrong! There had to be a logical explanation for- oh and there goes a rat just magically transforming into a cup.

Ed couldn't be sure how long he stood in there in the middle of the road, just watching. Somehow, his brain had decided to give up and he was left in a somewhat trance-like state. At some point, his legs must have started moving of their own accord and Ed began to shuffle through the crowd, taking in the strange sights, some of which made his stomach churn and others that filled him with awe.

It was only when he noticed that he was suddenly surrounded by small children that he was wrenched out of his trance and Ed forced himself to focus upon what were possibly the first children he had seen in the street since he got here. All of them were so small and there were so many. Slightly confused, Ed wondered just what exactly he had stumbled into. It was only when he heard what he recognised as the word "school" that he realised what time of year it was. Autumn. Back in Amestris, this was exactly when the new school year would have started and it seemed that was a parallel here as well. So these children were what...wizard students? Was that even a thing?

Time for some investigating.


	5. Ed nearly dies

This new development of a possible wizard school, suddenly sparked something within Ed that he hadn't felt since he had last been in Amestris. He was excited. This whole experience was an adventure dressed in a nightmare's clothing, and may even be a lead to finding his way back home. If he found a way to get into that school he may even learn something that would help to bring Al's body back! Equivalent exchange was a hard rule-Ed knew that, but that must mean that this "magic" must work differently to alchemy to give the appearance of creating something from nothing. Ed was determined to find out how.

All it had taken was one small happening to make Ed come to his senses. All at once he felt slightly ashamed at being so apprehensive recently. He was the Fullmetal Alchemist for God's sake! He wasn't afraid of the truth. (He was a bit scared of Truth but that was a whole other kettle of fish). He would face this magic malarkey head on. His first priority however, was finding a way back to Amestris and back to Al. Nothing would come in the way of that now.

With his renewed perspective on his situation, Ed made his way into the thickened crowd which was no longer intimidating in the slightest. Now that he was over his initial anxiety, he realised that the place was actually fascinating. Nowhere in Amestris could you hope to find colour changing chairs, or large, fluffy owls on sale to be kept as pets! Everywhere he looked there was something new and interesting to be found and Ed started at the realisation that in his closed mindedness and fear, he had almost chosen to ignore a treasure trove of information and amazement.

Even though he knew that he was more or less penniless, Ed had no problem with just browsing for the next few hours, mindlessly gazing at everything and anything and jotting down notes and ideas when they came to him. The entire street was jam packed with crazy objects and people, even more so than back in that "London" place Ed had lived in. He wondered why this pocket of magical folk was so hidden away, so separate from the rest of the city, as if they had been forgotten. It was hard to imagine something like this happening to the alchemist community- they were so ingrained in society in Amestris, it would take a lot to suddenly push them away into isolation.

Another rush of excitement came to him when he stumbled upon a great book shop. It was a grand brute of a shop, packed to bursting with books which were no doubt written in the language he could barely understand but Ed knew that he could overcome that- especilly with his new found motivation. He dug around in his pockets for a few moments and pulled out the last dregs of his money. Six small coins of varying colour and size. He hoped it would be enough for something. He didn't want to have to resort to pickpocketing…again.

The prize of a book was firmly set on the teen's mind as he marched into the shop, red coat flapping behind him like a winged companion. Inside was just as busy as the street. The multiple stories were filled to the brim with browsing wizards and witches of all ages. He noted the large amount of teenagers and children inside the shop, who were no doubt getting school supplies for the new year.

A sudden idea popped into his head and a grin found its way onto his face. Scanning the near vicinity, Ed found a young wizard who looked to be about his age standing by a bookshelf with a large stack of books neatly under one arm. Ed discreetly sidled over to the teen and made a quick note of all of the titles he had with him, then continued to do the same thing for four or five other students of roughly his age. This was phase one of his quickly developing plan to get into the school- Learn as much school content as possible. Despite not having gone to any academic institution since he was about twelve, Ed had a pretty good idea of how education systems worked, he also knew for one thing: there was no way he'd get into the school with absolutely zero prior knowledge.

Now armed with a list of over fifty book titles, Ed immediately began to push his way to the very back of the shop where it was quieter and the books were dustier and began skimming the shelves for anything he recognised. The very top floor was much less populated and soon enough a small wall of literature had built around him and Ed was content to just sit and read. A small window just above him ushered in a small trickle of light that was just enough to read by. The moment his gaze fell upon the first page of slightly smudged words, he became lost in deciphering and decoding the foreign text.

The sun had dipped below the drooping rooftops of the buildings that lined the streets by the time Ed looked up from within his little fortress. His stomach had given out a growl that could not be ignored so he huffily began pushing books randomly onto shelves. He was slightly irritated at his lack of understanding of the many books he had tried to read because, as much as he was good at guessing meaning by context, he just didn't know enough. This and the fact that he had already been studying the language for the better part of three months made him particularly sullen. Every other word in those books was alien to him and now that he no longer had access to the extensive languages section in the massive city library, he was rather stumped. It wasn't like he hadn't already learnt a great amount of English; he was certain that he could hold a reasonable conversation by now but these magic books seemed to use a far greater vocabulary than he currently had at his disposal.

It was a slightly heartening thought that perhaps the only reason words such as "aconite" meant nothing to him was because they were wizard words. Nevertheless, he still wrote down each new word with every intention of finding out what all of them meant. It was fairly unlikely that a magic shop would sell any dictionaries however and Ed wasn't in the mood for a hunt, so for now he was stuck. He would just have to pick up some more books at the small library down the road or from the bookshop next door when he got back to the inn and continue guessing through context until he could find a way of discovering their true meanings.

Ten minutes later, Ed had nearly finished haphazardly putting the books back onto their respective shelves. On a whim, he decided to buy the final book from his destroyed pile. It was very small and tattered and had some circle drawings on the front which looked vaguely alchemical if he squinted, so perhaps it would prove useful and hopefully not too expensive.

The sound of his uneven footsteps startled the lady at the counter as Ed walked towards her. She must have thought that there was nobody left in the shop at this late hour, which was fair enough; she was just about to close.

She warily watched the strange blond boy approaching her, armed with a book that looked positively ancient. It was dog-eared and had probably come from the collection at the back. It was more or less worthless by now. Nobody bought that stuff nowadays. Oh well, a sale was a sale.

Ed handed the book over to the woman who was peering down at him through her large rimmed glasses with an unreadable expression. She took it gingerly between her thumb and middle finger and dropped it into a small paper bag as if it offended her- honestly, it was just a bit dusty! Then she said something in such a strange accent that it flew completely over Ed's head but he guessed that she was asking for payment.

He chucked all six of his "wizard" coins onto the counter and she delicately slid four, two larger ones and and two smaller ones, into a box beside her. She then handed him the bag with his book which he took with a stumbled "thank you" and he slipped his remaining two coins into a pocket. He was honestly surprised that he'd had enough to pay for the book and added "get someone to explain the currency" to his ever growing mental to-do list.

The little bell above the shop door announced his departure as Ed stepped out onto the practically deserted street. The chilly mist was back so he pulled his coat slightly tighter around himself and hugged the little book to his chest. It was strange walking back through the high street which now had very few signs of life on it. Ed almost wondered if something had happened whilst he was in the bookshop, however the small pockets of people milling around the cafés showed no indication of strife.

A steady ebb and flow of quiet conversation followed Ed as he walked back to the Leaky Cauldron. Despite the calm that only evening could bring, Ed once again felt uneasy, as if someone was watching him- which was entirely possible. The street was dark and foggy with patches of near black shadows dotted around every few metres. It would be all too easy for somebody to follow him, dipping in and out of the dark pools but Ed put those fears to the back of his mind. He doubted these magic folk could do any real harm anyway. Every shop he had seen today had been filled with gimmicks and interesting objects that looked about as dangerous as Mustang in the rain. Now that he was recovered and out of his slump, Ed was confident that he could beat anyone's ass that tried to jump him, even without his alchemy.

It was only once Ed reached the moving brick wall that lead back to the inn did the feeling of being watched disappear, only to be replaced by another problem. Ed was no magician and it was obvious that the passage back could only be created by one. The teen had no idea how to get back. With a sigh, Ed slumped down to sit cross-legged on the floor with his hands on his knees. For a solid five minutes he just stared at the unchanging wall, decomposing it in his mind as he would with anything he transmuted and reconstructing it as the hole that would take him back. He went through all of the circles but never clapped or tried to draw upon the alchemic energy that he knew was there but currently seemed further out of reach than any of the times he had tried circle-less alchemy before that day.

It was coming up to the ten minute mark by the time Ed jumped up. Attempting alchemy was futile and he didn't want to risk experimenting out on the streets where he might fall unconscious or accidentally blow up the portal wall...Again. Instead, he decided upon the tactic of poking at the bricks with his flesh hand, feeling for any give or weakness in the surface. He was still sceptical of this magic business after all and the logical part of his brain had decided that the wall must just be a trick, that there was a mechanism inside that when triggered would cause the bricks to slide apart. After all, everyone who had changed the wall before had tapped it.

He started at the bottom of the wall and made his way up systematically. Once or twice a loose brick shook under Ed's hand but soon proved to be nothing more than that after failing to do anything spectacular. By the middle of the wall, nothing had happened and Ed was beginning to feel a little silly. It was fortunate that it was dark and nobody was about otherwise Ed was sure that there would be some questions. He was about to give up when he felt a sudden jolt in his automail arm which was resting on the wall. The first time it happened, Ed shook it off as humidity. Dark clouds had rolled in, giving the moon a half mask and Ed could tell that there was going to be a storm. That thought spurred him on and he resumed searching the wall at a faster pace.

Soon enough, he felt another jolt. Frowning, Ed looked down at his arm to see that it had been resting on the same brick as before. His frown deepened and he tentatively touched the brick with his left hand. A tingle. Barely there. Then with his right hand again. A spark of something travelled through his port, but unlike the painful twinges he got before rain, this was different somehow. It wasn't quite painful but it was strange and powerful and reminded Ed all too much of alchemy. At that thought, Ed's mind began to buzz. Perhaps there was still a chance that he could use alchemy here. Was it possible that he had been thinking about this all wrong? He was in another world so what was to say that the rules of alchemy wouldn't be a bit different? Equivalent exchange must still be a constant- it was the foundation of alchemy itself, but perhaps he was approaching it wrong.

Throwing caution to the wind, Ed clapped his palms together and was rewarded with the usual metallic ring. Then, without thinking about the decomposition or the circles, or anything, Ed released the energy through his automail hand directly to the brick that had caused the spark. The immediate effect was a lot more underwhelming that Ed had hoped. Instead of the usual bright flash, there was a small pop and fizzle like a match being lit. A moment of silence had Ed doubting that anything had actually happened, then a tiny rumble came from the wall. All at once, the bricks began twisting and contorting and a massive grin broke out on Edward's face as he watched them dance into the formation of an arch. It looked very different from what he had seen earlier as instead of jagged edges, the arch was smooth, twisting and garish, similar to his creations back home. (Ed still had no idea why nobody liked his designs- they were awesome!)

Ed rushed through the arch and was pleased to find himself in the back area of the inn, not just on the other side of the wall. The sudden elation in his heart made him feel giddy. He finally had his alchemy back! Just to check that it wasn't a one-off, Ed went back to the arch and re-transmuted it back into a wall.

Pure relief and joy was coursing through his veins as he made his way back into the Leaky Cauldron. On his way inside he flashed Tom a bright smile which was given a look of happy confusion in reply. Too excited to think about food anymore, Ed bounded up the stairs to his room which had books and clutter strewn haplessly across the floor.

With the door firmly shut, Ed proceeded to violently shove everything that currently occupied his desk onto the floor. He then ran a hand over the smooth wooden surface, gauging the necessary information before taking a breath and clapping his hands together. He had to test his theory. If his alchemy was truly back, this would work. Once again the loud ring filled his ears and he firmly placed his palms down, thinking back to his first transmutations of small animal figures.

Fizz..pop..CRUNCH. Wait- wha-no,no NoNO"NO!" Ed's eyes widened in fear as the transmutation began to backfire. I just did this! What went wrong? Panicked, Ed began trying to pull his hands away from the table, but just like the first time he had tried transmuting, he was stuck, feeling as if his life force was being ripped away and unable to do anything but wait it out. Like a fish caught on a hook Ed began wrenching his hands back until the tendons in his shoulders were on the verge of ripping. He heard a small twang from his automail.

A rush of anger made Ed see red. He was not going to give up now! He had this and it wasn't going to slip away! His anger gave him a sudden surge of energy which instead of using to fuel his efforts of pulling away, he poured it all into the transmutation. The blazing white and purple light became brighter, filling his vision and forcing him to shut his eyes. Flickers of black began to close in from the corners of his vision which was still bright white through his eyelids, then with a final, brilliant flash, Ed was flung backwards. He landed in a heaving pile, bouncing from the wall to the floor with a crash that was bound to have been heard two buildings away.

It took Ed a few moments to gather his senses once again. He felt numb and dazed and his head felt as if he had a wad of cotton wool in there instead of a brain. Blinking away the flashes that remained imprinted on his retinas, Ed dragged himself upright once again and stumbled back to the wretched desk. He fell heavily into the chair and let his head rest in his arms for a bit, mulling and pondering. He closed his eyes. What went wrong? What am I missing? Something must have been different that time…but what?

Over and over again, these questions rolled and tumbled and churned in his mind but he could think of nothing. He had done it exactly as he had outside with the wall- no deconstruction, no circles in his mind, only a vague idea of the result.

With a growl, Ed banged his fist against the table viciously and brought his head up. He was about to get up to pace, hoping that it would help to clear his muddled thoughts when something stopped him dead in his tracks. There, in the middle of the desk, less than the size of a thimble was a tiny bird figure. Ed blinked twice. It was still there.

Quick as a viper, Ed bent down to examine the tiny wooden finch that was now perched on the table. It was exactly the one he had been thinking of. It even had the tiny antennae poking up from its head- a trademark of Ed's.

For a moment Ed stopped breathing. If he breathed it might blow away and cease to be real. Then he whooped. A great yell of triumph declaring his feat to the world. If he could do this once then he could do it again!

Again he tried. Another explosion of power that ripped him off his feet. The table was flat once more.

Again. Deconstruction. Yellow and green flashes and sparks that twisted and pulled. A small cat. His nose began to bleed.

Again. Circles. Green and red flames that dragged him to the brink of consciousness. An owl.

Again. More power. Black tendrils, like hands. A dog.

Again. A wrench

Again. A watch

Again. A gun.

All night Ed worked himself to the brink. Tirelessly he attacked the desk with transmutation after transmutation until he could barely stand and his heart was fluttering dangerously weakly against his ribs. He tried every combination of power, circles, deconstruction and reconstruction he could think of, varying the equations and ratios every time, but no matter what he tried the result would always be the same. A flash. A colour. A violent tug on his consciousness. A tiny figure. Blood.

He noticed that certain combinations resulted in fractionally less brutal consequences, but never enough that he would ever be able to use it outside.

It was five in the morning by the time he decided to call it a night. Ed was exhausted and the thought of performing even one more transmutation repulsed him. As he lay on his bed, still fully clothed except for his Flamel cloak which was draped over him, Ed stared at the ceiling. It was dark and only a sliver of moonlight crept in through the tiny window so Ed watched the fading zigzags and flashes blink out of his eyes. His final transmutation had been exceptionally bright and Ed had had to take a few minutes to even slightly recover from its intensity.

He wasn't down yet though. There were people who needed him. He would find a way back. No matter what.

Ed woke late the next day. A faint smudge of blood on his pillow made him grimace as he remembered the events of last night. He dragged his eyes over to the desk to see the last figure had made still standing there after he hadn't had the strength to take it down. He let his head flop back again with a groan.

He had been so hopeful but of course things were never that easy. Truth was probably laughing at him right now. Stupid alchemist. He would say. Use your head. So much has changed but everything is still the same.

Something clicked. Snapping upright, Ed ignored the head rush and sped over to the desk. He crouched so that his eyes were level with the top of the surface and he scanned, every inch, every bump and scratch. How could he not have seen this?

Closing his eyes, Ed brought back the equations he had been using the previous night and chuckled at himself. Stupid alchemist indeed. So much had changed. He had never stopped to think about how an entirely new world may be different to his own. They may be similar but not everything would be composed in the same way. Oak here may be very different than oak back in Amestris. It may not even be the same thing. However the fundamentals were always the same. Everything is still the same.

With that thought spurring him on, Ed clapped. He didn't need to remove parts of the process, he needed to add more! Drawing upon everything he knew about every type of wood he knew of, he planted his hands upon the desk. This was the riskiest transmutation he had done yet. For one, he was an alchemist who specialised in metal, not wood but the desk was the best he had right now. Also, what he was thinking of would require way too much energy if it backfired. If this went wrong he would die. But he was certain. There was no way he could be wrong.

A shit eating grin plastered itself on Ed's face as blue sparks appeared. They popped and fizzled like before but were stronger. Alchemical lines began to appear, morphing the light wood into an elongated sphere, growing and moulding. There was no surge, no crack, just a gentle fizz as the figure took shape beneath his hands. Moments later, an almost life-size statue of Alphonse's armour stood in the middle of the room.

Ed brought a hand to his face. No blood, no sweat. His heart rate hadn't even sped up.

Table. Alphonse. Table. Alphonse.

Five times each he transmuted the two. Each time it became a little easier and he could discard any unneeded information. After the sixth transmutation he was sure that he hadn't gotten it wrong. This wasn't a one off exception like with the wall, which he assumed had just been luck. He had it right. He knew what he was doing now and alchemy was back on the table. For good.

With a spring in his step, Ed strutted down into the main part of the inn. As usual, Tom was there at the bar with a smile as soon as he saw Ed.

"What was all the noise about last night?" He asked the alchemist slowly, giving him time to mull over the words before he answered.

"I was practing? No...um…practising some uh, magic." Ed rolled the word around in his mouth. "Very dangerous. Went a bit wrong, but now I've got it! You heard?" How could he not have heard? It sounded like the military training ground on artillery testing day!

"Ah, of course. I thought it was that, but you can never assume these days."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you see there's been a lot o' dangerous folk around- you follow?" Ed nodded. "Yeah, after the Quidditch World Cup fiasco," Ed looked puzzled at that word, "disaster, people have been on edge lately."

"Quidditch?" Ed asked. He knew what "fiasco" meant alright, but "quidditch" was certainly something he had never heard of before.

"Ya' don't know what quidditch is my boy?" Tom asked incredulously. He was so forceful in his tone that Ed wondered if he had personally insulted the man.

"I'm not from around here Tom." Ed gestured to the air. "It's probably different in my own language- I've only been learning for a few months."

"Oh, yes I almost forgot. You know, it's bloody remarkable. You managed to pick up more English in a few months than others do in years. Not to say it hasn't been done before, but I still think its damn brilliant…Anyway, quidditch, it's what we call the sport with our broomsticks- you know with the balls and the teams."

"Oh! Yes of course! I know exactly what that is- yes, where I come from we call that…" Ed had absolutely no idea what the man was on about. At least he knew that quidditch was a sport now, but other than that he was lost. He told Tom the Amestrian for "bullshit" because it was the first thing that came to his mind. No doubt the man would be telling all his friends how to say "quidditch" in a foreign language all day.

"Say," Ed butted in to Tom's ramblings about his favourite quidditch team, "you wouldn't happen to know of a magic school around here would you?"

"School eh? Yes, there are a couple in England- not anywhere near here mind, but I imagine you must be thinkin' of Hogwarts." Ed inclined his head. "Well at least, that's where all these kiddies are heading over the next few days." Tom gestured towards a small group of tiny wizard children before continuing. "You know, Hogwarts is one of the best wizarding schools in the world, some of the finest sorcerers have been taught there...some of the worst too."

Ed frowned at the ominous inclination of the man's voice but opted to ignore it on favour of digging for more info.

"So how would a person...you know, go about uh enrolling? Enrolling in Hog-warts? I've been looking for a way to carry on my..education."

"I gotta tell you lad, I'm not really sure. Every kid I've heard of that goes there has done so since they were eleven- it's kind of the done thing in our community." Tom paused for a moment as if considering something. "If you want, I could have a chat with some o the teachers that come by here- see if the headmaster might be willing to make an exception for you."

"Headmaster?" asked Ed. That word rung a bell but he couldn't place where he had heard it before.

"Yeah, it means he runs the school- Hogwarts. Haven't talked to the man in years though, might have to go through a couple a professors first to get to him. He's a difficult bugger to get a hold of these days."

"That would be amazing Tom! You would do that for me?" Ed practically jumped off of the bar stool he was balanced on at the news. Phase two was running much more smoothly than Ed had anticipated.

"Anything for my favourite customer." Tom quipped back with a cheesy grin.

/

As Ed made his way out of the front entrance of the Leaky Cauldron, things were beginning to look a lot brighter. With any luck, Tom would have talked to a teacher who could contact the headmaster of Hogwarts about Ed's possible enrollment in the school within a week. He was a sociable man so it didn't seem particularly far-fetched a thought. That meant that within the month, Ed could be out of the dingy inn and finally able to get started on some real research. Hogwarts sounded like a brilliant school and would no doubt be home to a lot more magic-specific information than anywhere else. A spring had found its way into the young alchemist's step as he rounded the corner, out into the main road of the muggle world. (Ed had learned the word "muggle" a few days prior after hearing it too many times to not ask Tom what it meant)

Unlike the wizard street Ed had discovered the previous day, the road at the front of the Leaky Cauldron was very unremarkable. Ed had walked down it numerous times on the way to the tiny local library, which was where he was headed now. It was a five minute jog that took him through a maze of alleys and a small park and during the afternoon it was pleasant enough if you could ignore the strong stench of petrol that clogged the air each day. Ed also passed a dated workshop on the way which he had stopped at once to pick up some small items, screws and nails and the such, for his automail. Well, he wouldn't be needing that any more, he thought. Any spare parts he needed now could just be transmuted.

Ed spent the day at the library. He had brought along his book with circles on it from the wizard bookshop in the hopes of deciphering it. His hopes were slightly dashed however when, two hours in, he realised that it hadn't been written in the modern English he was learning. It wasn't as bad as that Shakespeare stuff he had accidentally picked up a couple of weeks ago- a horrible mistake- but it would certainly take a much deeper understanding of modern English to even attempt, so he put it aside for later.

Along with his usual linguistics studies, Ed had now added some science books into his research. With this new development in his alchemy, he figured that it would be useful to get to grips with how the people in this world understood natural science. Most of it was fairly basic and coincided with Ed's current knowledge but there were other, much more advanced studies in engineering and power sources that Ed had never seen before. Out of interest, Ed read up about something called "nuclear power" and found it both mesmerising and terrifying. To think that these people had discovered a way to harness such raw power was amazing and Ed knew that there was no way he could tell Mustang about this. It was far too dangerous, and in the wrong hands could no doubt cause tragedy.

Edward never went back to the wizard street. He really had no need to and there he felt somewhat like an intruder. He didn't know magic and he knew nothing of their customs or culture. Ed was much more at ease living among normal people as he had for his entire life. He was used to the fact that alchemy was not widely practised by the public in Amestris, so he knew how to act around them. The same could not be said for wizards.

But now that he was aware, Ed couldn't stop noticing them. It was if a switch had been turned on in his brain and now he could actually see what was happening around him. Over the next four days whenever Ed went out, he would see things that would normally be unexplainable. Objects sometimes flew overhead, in the clouds where nobody would normally think to look. Daytime owl sightings became commonplace, and just once Ed had caught a glimpse of the rickety purple bus speeding down the road and a lamp post and multiple cars had moved out of its path of almost certain destruction. That explained a lot.

All too soon a week rolled by with no word from Tom. Ed hadn't really been counting but he had always had a smile ready for when he saw the innkeeper in the mornings and evenings- hoping that Tom would be the one to bring up the subject of Hogwarts. For some reason he felt a bit nervous at the prospect of going to school, like that time when he had to speak to Hawkeye after spilling juice on one of her reports. That was a horrific day. However, in usual Edward style, he ignored the small twinges of anxiety in his stomach in favour of his usual cocky grin that he wore when out and about.

It was extremely busy in the pub on that particular Sunday evening. There was an abundance of young children passing through as well, Ed noted. They were all headed towards the courtyard so he could only assume that they were there for the Portal Wall. Nobody spared him a glance as he slid into a seat in the corner of the room to watch the antics. Many of the children wore pointed hats that wouldn't be out of place at a fancy dress party, but it looked cute on them so Ed couldn't judge. He assumed that they were school children which brought his mind back to his current predicament. That morning, Ed had arrived back in the Leaky Cauldron after a long run to the sight of Tom engrossed in conversation with a tall, thin woman. She was obviously a witch in her long green dress-robe hybrid and she held herself with a grace not unlike that of Olivier Armstrong. Needless to say, Ed skirted round the back so as to stay as far out of her way as possible.

Although at the time Ed had thought that he had dodged a bullet, he was slightly dismayed to later learn from Tom that she had been one of the professors from Hogwarts he had mentioned. He had also learned that she would be returning later to talk to him and judge whether he was a suitable "candidate" to be enrolled at the school. She was due to arrive any moment and Ed could honestly say that he wasn't sure if he'd be surviving the next hour of his short life.

A sudden sound of roaring fire caught Ed's attention and he turned sharply to see something extremely peculiar. There, amidst a swirl of dying emerald flames stood the woman. It wasn't the woman that was peculiar- it was the fact that she was standing inside the fireplace! She looked very elegant for someone who had apparently just walked out of a ball of fire, but it seemed that that was a normal happening here as nobody else even batted an eyelid.

Ed resisted the urge to sink further into his seat as she practically glided across the room over to Tom who greeted her warmly. He wasn't really sure what he had been expecting, but this woman, like so many others in his life was extremely intimidating. She reminded him of his Teacher, Izumi and that was not a good thing in Ed's books. Ed couldn't hear what Tom and Teacher 2.0 were saying but a moment later Tom was pointing the lady in the direction of the rooms upstairs, no doubt telling her which one was Ed's. It was hard not to feel a sense of betrayal at the ease which Tom had told the woman where he would be. That was until he remembered that he had literally arranged the meeting between them, and had told Ed hours beforehand.

Deciding that he had stalled long enough, Ed slunk back through the mass of people and made his way back to his room. Upon seeing the woman, he knew that it would be in his best interests not to keep her waiting. Although physically, she looked harmless enough, he had no idea what she may be capable of in terms of magic.

When he reached his room, Ed found that the door was slightly ajar informing him of the woman's presence in his room. Whilst this might have seemed considerate, it made Ed's anxiety return somewhat. Ajar doors were never safe, often concealing rushed crime scenes or traps (at least in Ed's previous experience) so just as a precaution, he transmuted a very short blade into his arm so that it could be hidden under his coat sleeve. Once again, a smile graced his lips as the transmutation worked seamlessly. Warily, he pushed open his door and was met with the sight of Teacher 2.0 perched delicately on the edge of his bed. He couldn't blame her, it was the only place that wasn't trashed with books or pieces of wall that had broken off.

Edward was hesitant for a moment. Upon closer inspection, he found that the woman's face was much less severe that it had looked from far away. In fact, she looked more tired than anything else. They made eye contact and without waiting for the teen to even cross the threshold into his room, the woman stood and spoke.

"Mr. Edward I presume? I am professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. I was recently approached by Tom about the possibility of your enrollment, is that correct?" She spoke very formally and clearly which was a blessing for Ed- still however it took him a moment to un-jumble the sentence in his head.

Slowly, he nodded, "Yes Professor, I was hoping that there was a possibility that you could uh, allow me to continue my education at Hogwarts. I understand that it is...unusual to allow new, older students in but I have nowhere else to go."

"Why is that, Edward?"

Time to roll out the sob story. Ed bit his lip and, with what he hoped was a stricken expression, broke eye contact and dropped his gaze to the ground.

"My family..we were driven out of our home by the war. We were making our way across the boarder when the other soldiers caught up and- I...I was the only one who made it out. Even my little brother..he..." Ed trailed off, allowing McGonagall's imagination to fill in the rest. He hoped that he had kept the story vague enough to apply to any war that might be going on right now. It was a similar story to the one he told people who asked about his automail leg when he was in Central. The moment he mentioned "the war" or "the Eastern conflict", the conversation quickly came to an end, with many Amestrian soldiers preferring to avoid the topic as well.

"Oh, goodness you poor boy. Yes, I've heard of the conflict in the East, I never thought that it would impact the magic community in such a way..."

"I lived in a very...rural area. I'm mostly home-schooled in magic, my mother taught me before...-which is why I am...uh, concerned that I might not be at the right standard." Again, Ed allowed his face to morph into one of sadness before perking up slightly. "But I have been studying! I have read some books that I saw other students using."

Playing the role of the child eager to learn, Ed whipped around to reach for one of the many books he had picked up from some place or another before realising something. His Alphonse floor-statue was still standing, very much visible in the centre of the room. There was no way McGonagall hadn't seen it. Ed faltered for a moment, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights before opting to act like nothing was wrong. If she hadn't already brought it up, perhaps it wasn't a big deal. Perhaps it was commonplace for magic folk to keep wooden statues of suits of armour melded into the floor. Nothing weird about that at all.

Turning back, random book in hand, Ed grinned at her hoping to keep her attention on him for as long as possible. Nervously, he scratched the back of his head as he offered her the book- which turned out to be a short one on "transfiguration"- a branch of magic that was one of the closest to alchemy he had seen yet. "Heh, I found that one really interesting, especially the part about morphing two separate types of matter together into one, very...thought provoking. I haven't finished it yet though-my English isn't the best..."

"It sounds plenty good to me," she replied thoughtfully as she turned the book around in her hands. A few moments of silence passed between the alchemist and the witch, who seemed to be deep in thought as she mulled over the situation. Finally, she looked back up at Ed, peering searchingly through her glasses.

"If you don't mind my asking, where is your wand Mr..."

"Elric." Ed supplied shortly.

"Mr Elric."

"I lost it a while ago. On my way here I ran into a bit of trouble and it got lost on the fray. I haven't been able to afford another one." Improv like a pro- eat that Mustang!

"Indeed, however that does beg the question of how you were able to transfigure that without a wand?" Ah damn. Ed already knew what she was gesturing towards without even looking. He supposed it had been too much to hope that she would ignore such a thing.

Stalling for time, Ed slowly turned on the spot, his mind whirring with possible explanations he could offer. He didn't necessarily want to expose his alchemy just yet as it seemed to be a lesser practiced, if at all type of "magic". It would certainly raise a lot of unanswerable questions, and may even result in him being rejected from Hogwarts. No, he needed to turn this to his favour- try to impress her so that she didn't even think that he had no experience in using magic.

"Ah that! Yes..that is a magic that I can perform without a wand. I was taught it by my father- it's a bit of a family...how do you say it? Tradition? Look, I will show you."

Maneuvering himself quickly behind the statue so that McGonagall's view of him was obscured, Ed clapped his hands together and re-transmuted the floor so that it once again lay flat. Other than the tiny, telltale lines left behind by the alchemy, there was no sign that it had ever held a different form. Theatrically dusting himself off, Ed looked up again to see a slightly stunned expression on the professor's face.

For a moment, she seemed to struggle to find words before composing herself with a small nod.

"That was rather...unexpected. However, I see that you are an undoubtedly talented wizard to be able to perform not only wandless but nonverbal magic too. I shall speak with Professor Dumbledore about your situation. Expect to hear from me again by tomorrow, good day Mr Elric." Rather briskly, she let herself out of the small room without even waiting for Edward to reply. Something had obviously shaken her, given her response to Ed's alchemy but Ed couldn't understand how such simple alchemy had prompted such a reaction from her.

Choosing not to dwell upon it too much, Ed picked up the transfiguration book she had left behind on his bed and began to read it once again. With any luck, he would be receiving (fingers crossed) an acceptance letter to Hogwarts the next day, and if that happened,he had better be prepared to go back to school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is a bit of a crappy chapter but Dumbledore is difficult to write and I haven't read the books properly in ages.  
> If anything is really wrong, feel free to point it out, I always appreciate it :)
> 
> (14.01.18) For anyone who read this before 16.01.18 (although this applies more to the ppl on ffn.net), I changed a lot during the revision of in the last few chapters- sorry if you don't like it but honestly, I couldn't bring myself to write any more of this, knowing that that plot was so cliche and that characterisation was shitty and that Ed was being treated like a special snowflake. Also, I had written myself into a hole that I wasn't sure how to get out of and I eventually decided that a complete rewrite of the last two chapters was in order. If you can remeber anything from before the change, please do tell me if you prefer this version :) I'm only just coming out of this many month long writing slump and reviews may inpire me to write the next chapter just that little bit faster. (Also, if you have a problem with McGonagall's character please do tell- I got Dumbledore wrong before and I don't want that same thing happening again)/


	6. Ed discovers the night life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a small note to say that if you have been following this story and have not seen my previous notes, as of 14.01.18 I have made some changes to the plot of this story. None of them are so major that you'd have to reread the whole fic, but just in case you wanted to get a general idea of what changed I would recommend re-reading chaps 4 and 5 (or just the rest of this note). If you'd prefer not to, here's a quick run down of what changed: 1. Ed did not receive an ominous letter from Dumbledore telling him of a meeting. 2. Ed found out about Hogwarts rather than ~mysterious random wizards~on his own and he has chosen to try to get into the school- instead of being forced to attend 3. He met with McGonagall who doesn't know anything about him other than that he wants to enroll in Hogwarts and he is now waiting for a letter telling him whether or not he has been accepted into the school. Sorry this is a bit of a long AN. I will probably delete most of it later Thanksss :)

Three months. Three months since Alphonse had watched his brother get dragged, screaming and yelling into a dark swirling pit. Three months since he had fought the alchemists in Zone 12, shouting for Ed to hold on because he was coming for him. Three months since Edward Eric, the Fullmetal Alchemist had been declared MIA.

Alphonse took a shuddering breath. Or at least what sounded like one to anyone outside the suit of armour. That was one of the strange things Al had noticed about the suit recently. Somehow, despite the fact that he had no need to breathe it would still make the low, raspy noise that rattled through the helmet as if breathing for him.

Across from Al sat Roy Mustang who was nursing a glass of cheap whisky as he looked over Ed's file. Ever since the young alchemist's disappearance, the colonel had spent an alarming amount of time on the case even at the expense of neglecting his other duties, as if he had convinced himself that it was his fault that the teen had gone missing. Despite Alphonse's constant reassurances that Colonel there was nothing anyone could have done, the man still managed to blame himself.

If only I had sent more men.

If only I hadn't underestimated the alchemists in the warehouse.

If only I had made sure Ed had read the entire file before leaving.

If only I had gone with him.

It was no secret in the military that Roy was Ed's main handler. With that came the theories and accusations that he had planned this, or had deliberately withheld information about the case from Ed or had knowingly sent the boy on a mission above his skill set. Even the public had an opinion on the matter which had somehow made its way to national news.

It was only Alphonse who had managed to save Roy from the potential media storm that threatened to descend upon him. Really, Roy owed him his career.  
In the weeks after the incident, it had been 14 year old Al who had answered every question, every accusation, every interrogation regarding that day, even though he was still recovering from the shock of losing Ed so suddenly.

It was a small miracle that reporters decided to overlook the fact that a non-military personnell had been allowed to accompany Ed on a high security mission, even more so that the military themselves had also ignored that small detail. No, the big story here was that Ed, the golden boy, the Fullmetal Alchemist was missing and there were absolutely zero leads on how to find him.

Roy dragged a weary hand over his face, reading the tiny file for what must have been the thousandth time.

Zone 12 was a dead end. Everything had been destroyed in a mysterious fire that had been set off the minute the extraction team set foot in the place. Any books or documents that may have helped them in their search were all scorched beyond recovery. Similarly, every research lab in the site was also destroyed, either by the fire or independent explosions that had been set off.

The four alchemists were useless too. After the transmutation, Al had managed to apprehend all of them, knocking them out and handing them over to the extraction team when they eventually found him.

They lasted two days of questioning before they were found dead in their cells, cyanide still fresh on their lips. None of them had talked.

That just left Al, who was the only person who had seen the inside the building before the whole place had gone up in flames. He could recall everything he had seen but unfortunately that was very little. All they knew was that the facility had had labs dedicated to the research of soul transmutation, chimeras and no doubt human transmutation too. And that was it. Nothing more had been found in he three month long search for Ed.

Predictably, the media hype over the issue had died down weeks ago. With no fresh information coming up, what was the point of recycling old news? As media attention dwindled, so did the search team. Slowly, their squad of fifteen investigators had reduced to twelve, then to ten, then five and now three as commanders had pulled their soldiers out of the team as it became apparent that the investigation was going nowhere fast.  
And that was how Roy, Riza and Al had ended up sitting together, huddled away in the back of a bar in Central brooding over their missing alchemist.

"Perhaps we missed something at Zone 12?" Alphonse offered. Roy dismissed the notion with the wave of a hand.

"Both myself and Lieutenant Hawkeye have visited the site numerous times. There's nothing but rubble left."

"But I haven't gone sir. I can check places that are too dangerous for you, I heard that nobody has even been down to the basement yet!"

"Alphonse," Riza gently chimed in, "I was there just yesterday with Black Hayate. We went down to the basement and it's completely...empty. I don't think-" her breath hitched slightly, "-there was nothing Al. No evidence of anything ever being down there."

"Then... What about the other gang members? Surely there were more! You'd been planning this infiltration for weeks before me and Ed were sent in there. You must have some external information."

Roy hesitated for a moment before he replied. He could tell Alphonse was getting desperate, they all were really. It had been a difficult past few months and it was especially at times like these that Roy missed Hughes that much more. Had he been alive still, the Major would have been at the forefront of the investigation and may have even found a solid lead by now.

"I'm afraid it isn't that simple Alphonse. Everything we knew about Zone 12 and that gang had been collected over weeks of anonymous tip offs, civilian statements and rumours. I only even picked up the case because I heard that some sort of shady alchemy was involved and knew that was right up your street. Other than a couple of anomalous statements, we really do have nothing."

As Mustang was talking, Riza had handed Alphonse two scraps of paper which were covered in sprawling writing. They were the two statements that had only been brought out again due to the incident at the warehouse. For a moment the table was silent whilst Al scanned the two notes, Roy ready to take them back and place them into the file as yet another inconsequential piece of evidence. That was until Al stiffened slightly and visibly gripped the two scraps tighter, bringing them both closer to the eyes of his helmet as if squinting.  
Riza was suddenly attentive.

"What is it Al? Did you see-"

"I think I've got us a lead."

/London/

For Ed, waiting was possibly the worst form of torture anyone could inflict upon him. In the two hours after he had met with the professor from Hogwarts, he had managed to read every one of the books that cluttered his room, come up with three new theories about magic that he needed to test, and had become thoroughly bored.  
Now that something had finally happened to kick start his research for his return to Amestris, the young alchemist could hardly sit still. Every so often he would glance out of his window or wander down into the bar, hoping that a letter had come through from the lady even though he knew that it was impossible. By the third hour, Ed knew that he was being irrationally jittery so he got up and grabbed his cloak.

It was gone midnight and the bar was quiet as Ed crept out of the inn. There were only a couple of old men sitting in a far corner by a small gas lamp, grumbling over a game of cards and beer and he was able to sneak out unnoticed. A strange tightness had formed in the pit of Ed's stomach and although he would be the last to admit it out loud, he knew that he was nervous. Nervous for what exactly? School. A place Edward hadn't been to for over four years. Ever since he and Al had started their training with Izumi, he really had thought that he had left it behind for good, and now here he was.

Ed started walking down the street towards the park. It was dark and the streetlamps were dim.

Ed wasn't sure exactly why he was nervous; sure the idea of school itself was pretty mundane and he had never had any particularly awful experiences during the time he had attended the local primary in Resembool, so...why did the thought of going to Hogwarts make his stomach twist so painfully?

Was it the prospect of classwork? No, he had plenty of paperwork assignments that he completed with no difficulty at the military.

The teachers? No way, the only authority figures that truly terrified Ed were ones like Izumi, Olivier Armstrong and now that Professor McGonagall. The rest just happened to be people that he was supposed to kiss up to.

The students? ...Possibly.

Ed kicked at a rock on the pathway. It skidded into the road then vanished among the rest of the cobbles.

It had been a long time since Ed had had to spend time with others of his age. It wasn't that he was some kind of lone-wolf who hated company, in fact he loved being around people- theatrics were his specialty! But...ever since trapping Al in that suit of armour, the two had never had time for casual socialising. Also, he had learned over the years that he wasn't an especially likable person, if Rose, Mei and Lan Fan were anything to go by. Ed really only knew how to interact with adults now.  
A low growl escaped Ed's throat and he decided to put a stop to that thought where it was. It would only make him more nervous. He was coming up to the park now, it's low gate swinging slightly on its rusty hinges. Ed had discovered this place a few weeks ago and had come here a few times to jog around its perimeter. Grass running was always easier on his automail ports than pavement.

However tonight there was no light at all in the park. Apparently whoever was in charge had decided that turning on the floodlights was a waste of money. Ed groaned. Still, he had come all this way to let off some steam, so he carefully slipped through the gate and began going through some simple stretches. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that the park wasn't as dark as he had initially thought, with some pale light spilling over from the streetlamps and even a faint glow from the moon. Ed could actually see pretty well, provided he didn't care about knowing what was four meters in front of him.

Deeming himself sufficiently warmed up, Ed set of jogging at a fast but steady pace, sticking to the edges of the grass where it was lightest. As he ran, the teen could feel the tension ebbing out of his body, replaced with the usual thrum of adrenaline that made his mind buzz. It was on his fifth lap of the park that Ed noticed some movement up by the gate which was on the other side of the field to him. At that moment he passed it off as a fox or another late-night wanderer- in this large city it was not uncommon for people to be out and about during the early hours of the morning.

Only once Ed was a little way off from the gate did he notice that something seemed off. The shapes by the gate were large. Much larger than any fox and larger than an average human. Well, large wasn't really the right word for these figures- they were more long, tall, almost as tall as Armstrong. And there were at least five.

Quietly, Ed slowed to a walk, trying to make his clothes rustle a little as possible as he looked for the nearest cluster of shadows to hide in. He had a bad feeling about that group of people and although he had his alchemy back, he would definitely prefer to avoid a conflict.  
The nearest hiding spot Ed could see was only a little way away from him, beneath some bushes and behind a small, fallen tree. Unfortunately it was barely two meters form the group of hooded figures as well. With only a moment of hesitation, Ed ducked down and all but sprinted over to the bushes, keeping a tight grip on the back of his coat to keep it from flapping. He reached the spot in less than a second and held his breath, waiting to see if they'd investigate. Nothing. Ed dared to peek round the leaves to see that none of them had even turned his way.

Now that he was closer, Ed could just about make out their voices, rough and slightly muffled as if they were trying to be discreet. This made Ed ever more curious. A group of shady hat guys, meeting at the dead of night at a shadowy park. There had to be something juicy going on. Gradually, Ed shuffled forward so that he could pick up more of their conversation.

"-ing into place now. As soon as the boy is entered into the tournament, it will only be a matter of time until he comes back."

"How do we know he will be chosen? He is far too young to even enter!"

"We have someone...on the inside. He will enter the boy and he will be selected. The ritual must be done."

"So what are we going to do in the meantime? It's hard enough to even go out during the daytime. Ever since the World Cup we've been hunted like dogs!"

"Let me remind you of our place. We live to serve the Dark Lord and you will not blame him for your own incompetence. Anyway, there is much to do, to prepare for when he returns. We leave tomorrow for-"

CRACK

"What was that?"

All four of the men turned instantly towards Ed, wands drawn.

Fucking branch. That is so cliché, well done Ed you fucking idiot.

There was nothing else Ed could do but stand up and confront the men. They obviously had something awful planned and whether he liked it or not, they were going to find him if he just stayed where he was. Each of them had summoned some kind of light- Ed recalled reading about the spell "lumos" in one of the books he had read, and between them the light shone brighter than a searchlight.

With a crackle of alchemy, a pillar of dirt barreled towards the figures, taking them by surprise. All but one were hit, sending them rolling to the ground where two of them stayed.

Two down, two to go.

The remainig two had begun shouting to each other and spread out swiftly so that Ed had to constantly turn his head to keep track of them. Their outlines were hard to make out in the darkness now that they had extinguished the lights from their wands.

A sudden shout from the left was the only warning Ed had before a bright light hurtled towards him. There was no time to transmute a wall and Ed found himself leaping backwards into a handspring to evade the spell.

Definitely wizards then. Damn.

Two more spells were fired in quick succession at Ed's head, both just barely missing their targets and forcing Ed even further back. On instinct, Ed transmuted his arm blade just as his back hit a tree. His eyes went wide as another silvery spark flashed directly towards him and he ducked down with a millisecond to spare as the light shredded into the wood above him.

Kicking back against the tree, Ed used it to propel him forwards into a roll, at the same time he planted his hands against the grass sending two large fist-shaped lumps of ground towards his attackers.

Assuming that the loud thud was one of them going down, Ed focused his attention to the last remaining wizard before the others recovered.

He could see the man crouched low, almost invisible if not for a few chains that hung from his clothes that glinted in the light of a far away street lamp.

Ed let him believe he had the advantage for a moment, using his hesitation to buy him time to transmute a large shield from the small traces of metal in the ground. If he was going to get close, he needed something to deflect the spells.

Ed took barely two seconds to transmute the shield and he was only just in time to deflect a whisperd spell from behind him.

The impact was like a gun shot, but miraculously the shield remained intact.

Theory one, success.

Throwing caution to the wind, Ed began sprinting towards the cloaked wizard, arm blade raised. He was almost upon the man when there was suddenly a Lound crack and he vanished.

Ed stumbled forward, almost falling in surprise and unable to fully stop his momentum. Another crack sounded directly behind Ed and all of a sudden there was an arm around his neck and a wand pressed against his temple.

"Who are you?" a voice hissed into his ear. "Why are you here?"

"Me!" Ed shrieked back, "What the hell is a group of fully grown ass men doing playing dress up a 1am?"

The wand was pressed harder into Ed's temple, if it was any sharper it might have drawn blood.

"I will not ask again boy. Tell me who sent you!"

"Alright! Ugh just let me go first! I'll tell you everything." Ed slumped forwards in the man's arm.

"No. You tell me now and I might spare you." the wizard snarled. Ed could tell the man was wounded, his voice was breathy and shook slightly.

"Well in that case then..." Ed let out a shout as he flung his head back from where it had been slumped forwards. It collided with something behind him which he assumed was the wizard's nose from the resounding crunch that followed.

A cry tore from the man's lips as he let go of both Ed and his wand in favour of cradling his face. A swift roundhouse kick to the side of the head brought him down where he lay still, crumpled on the floor with his face resting in a slowly growing puddle of blood.

"Ah shit." Ed felt the the familiar sensation of warm blood trickle down the side of his face. He must really have filed that stick to get it so sharp. Intrigued, Ed shuffled over to where the wand was flung on the ground. He'd never seen one up close and he was pretty curious. One of the men was on the floor next to it but a shove with his boot confirmed that he was unconscious.

The alchemist crouched down to observe the stick, frowning when it failed to do anything spectacular. He reached a hand towards it and was about to touch it when his wrist was suddenly caught in the grasp of the previously unconscious.

The man was already half way through a spell word and there was nothing Ed could do to avoid the light at point blank range.

"Obliviate!"

The moment the spell hit, Ed's world exploded into white, then faded to nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update... Again. I'm going to try to update at least once a month from now on and yall can Yell at me if I don't :)  
> Also I wrote this really late at night so there may be a few typos I didn't spot but I will try to edit them asap


	7. Ed makes numerous impulsive decisions

Waking up under a bush at six in the morning was a strange experience for Edward. Consciousness had decided to trickle back to him, ever so slowly until he suddenly jolted upright in a confused panic.

"Wha-what the hell happened here..?"

He gazed around, dazed for a moment, taking in the destruction around him. Everywhere within a ten foot radius of where he lay was in total disarray, with clumps of dirt and chunks of rocks strewn across the park. It was obvious what had caused the mess; alchemy lines were clearly visible on the ground, but Ed could not for the life of him fathom how he could have caused something like this and not remember it. He was the only person around here that knew how to perform alchemy...right?

Gingerly, Ed pushed himself upright, using the tree behind him for support until he swayed lightly on his feet. He stubbornly ignored the pounding in his head and the groan his automail arm gave at the movement in favour of moving forward to assess the carnage.

Something big must have gone down here...Damn it! Why can't I remember? He thought to himself, furrowing his brow.

For a moment he just stood where he was, stuck in thought and grimacing, trying g to recall anything from last night that would explain the mess. That was until he remembered he was in public ans realised how strange it would look if he was seen here amongst a load of rubble.

Giving his forehead an aggressive rub with the back of his sleeve, as if it would do something to jog his memory, Ed made his way over to the worst of the damage to begin repairing the park grounds. It was worrying for him that his automail arm seemed to be moving sluggishly when he went to clap his palms together, like there was thick, sticky grease in the joints, but for now he had bigger issues to settle.

He made swift work of tidying up and was actually quite pleased with how neatly the ground moulded back into place. It was as if he'd never been there. Well, almost. In usual Ed fashion he decided to leave a little something behind for the residents and as he walked away he was accompanied by the sound of running water from the massive fountain he had planted right in the middle of the park. He figured he might as well give back to the community he had been a part of for three months.

When Ed arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron it was only a little past 7 am but already it was surprisingly busy. Ed had to physically push his way through the blockade of people in the main bar to get to the stairs round the back, hoping that he would be able to sneak past the bar without being caught by Tom. The man had recently become something of a guardian figure for Ed and would often grumble at him for staying out too late. Alas he was stopped short, just at the foot of the old staircase by the sound of a stern cough behind him.

It was with a sheepish smile that Ed turned to face the landlord of the inn. However rather than the miffed and exasperated frown he usually received in return, Tom's face snapped into an expression of shock. At that moment Ed remembered that he had woken up in a bush. He probably looked hella rough right now.

"Ed what were you doing last night?" the older man grated out. He seemed torn between his need to scold the teen or to usher him into the back to get the medical help he obviously needed. "You're bleeding."

"Eh? What? Where?" Ed began to blindly pat himself down, in search of the blood.

"No I'm not, I'm fin-oh." He pulled his hand away from his temple, his gloved fingertips coming away with a few specks of dried blood on them. It was brown and flakey meaning he must have been bleeding for quite a while.

"When did that happen?" Ed muttered to himself.

Tom groaned. "Come on," he grumbled, taking Ed by the shoulder and pulling him into the kitchen. Wordlessly, he pushed Ed towards an upturned bucket by the sink then, as the teen sat, made his way over to a tiny cupboard. Inside there was an abundance of unlabeled little jars and bottles, of which Tom chose three to take back to Ed.

"My kid used to get into scrapes all the time." Tom began without prompt, kneeling down so that he was eye level with Edward. He unscrewed the first bottle, a strong alcohol smell attacking Ed's nose. The landlord poured a little of the clear liquid onto a clean rag and began dabbing at Ed's forehead. Normally the alchemist would have protested fiercely at the action but there was something about Tom that made Ed trust him. Also his killer headache made it a bit difficult to focus.

"Every week he would come home from school with a new wound. Sometimes just small bruises, but once he went and got his whole wrist broke." Tom chuckled sadly at the memory, unscrewing the second bottle. It contained a thick brown liquid which he smeared gently onto a long cut on Ed's forearm. He hadn't even realised it had been there. Almost immediately the cut began to lose it's angry red colour, fading to a slight puffy pink.

"I would always patch him up after, though he never told me what had happened. I had to guess what he was up to until his school told me he was getting into fights. That was a week before he got his letter from Hogwarts you see. I never hear from him nowadays. Gone and got himself a good job up in the country. There-" Tom's tone shifted suddenly as he finished up with the final jar, a black paste which he put on the slit in Ed's forehead. "-good as new."

As Tom put his supplies away Ed jumped up from the bucket with a grin. He flexed his flesh hand, watching the now tiny cut on his arm move with the muscle beneath and found himself amazed at the medicine the man had used. Back in Amestris even a small cut like that would have taken at least a week to heal but here, even as he watched it, the skin was slowly seeming to knit itself back together.

"Thank you Tom, this is, I mean...Wow. This is amazing." Ed started. "I really appreciate it, I guess I must have found some trouble last night." He laughed awkwardly.

"Ah, don't mention it my boy. Hey, speaking of trouble I've got a little something for you right...over...aha! Here it is." Tom turned back to Ed after a moment of searching through the many piles of papers on the front desk. They had made their way back to the bar and Ed was taken slightly bu surprise when the man thrust a small piece of paper under his nose.

Upon closer inspection, Ed could see that the piece of paper was actually a small envelope with a large, red wax seal holding it closed. A sudden burst of excitement rippled through Ed's stomach as he recognised the small lettering that was imprinted upon the wax.

Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

This was it, Ed realised. The moment Ed would find out if he'd been accepted. The moment he would find out if he'd done enough to impress the professor and would be able to begin his research to get home in earnest. There was a slight tremor in his hands as Ed took the letter, carefully peeled off the wax seal and shuffled the single piece of folded parchment out of the envelope. He glanced up at Tom who was watching him intently then began to read the careful cursive of the letter.

"Dear Mr Edward Elric,

I am writing to inform you, with great pleasure, that your application to enroll at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry has been processed and accepted. As of Monday the 5th of September you will officially be a pupil at the school and will be expected to arrive promptly and with all necessary supplies and equipment (please see list at the bottom of the letter).

I have been informed of your unfortunate situation and wish to grant you the standard financial aid that Hogwarts offers to all students in dire circumstances. This will be sufficient to cover the purchase of required materials, including a replacement wand.

Please join the students aboard the Hogwarts Express on the 5th as this will take you directly to the school, as well as give you a chance to get to know your peers.

Due to the unusual circumstances regarding your enrolment at the school, you shall be joining the first years upon entry. I shall then make arrangements regarding your education at a later date as currently your magic abilities are unknown to us.

If you have any questions, please ask Tom who I have been informed you are staying with currently.

You will be able to withdraw your money from Gringotts bank, under your name, simply make sure to present this letter to the staff and they should take you to your Hogwarts issued vault.

I wish you all the best and hope that you will thoroughly enjoy your time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Yours faithfully,

Albus Dumbledore.

Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Required items include:..."

Ed skimmed through the rest of the letter. Once again he was confronted with a smattering of words he didn't know but the message was clear: he was in.

Despite the nervous butterflies in his stomach which had decided to make a comeback, Ed looked back up at Tom with a smirk.

"It looks like I'm off to school." He declared, waving the letter at the innkeeper proudly. Tom returned the smile and nabbed the letter to read it himself. He assured Ed that he would help him find the train station because "it takes a bit of a knack to find the entrance." This confused the alchemist slightly but he didn't question it.

"You do realise that today is the 4th right Ed?" Tom inquired suddenly, as if the thought had only just struck him.

Ed's eyes widened.

"Oh shit!" he all but yelled, causing a number of heads to turn his way but Ed was too panicked to care. He dove forward and snatched the letter out of Tom's hands before racing upstairs. Tom watched his antics, slightly baffled. A moment later, after a loud crash sounded from Ed's room the boy reappeared at the bar with his signature red coat flapping around him, still running.

"Where are you going?" Tom called after the teen as he sped towards the back door.

"To get all this stuff! I have to be at Hogwarts tomorrow and I have literally nothing!" Ed hollered back, letter in hand.

"Alright, just don't come back covered in blood again. And Gringotts is on the North side of Diagon Alley- big building, can't miss it!"

"Thanks Tom!"

And with that, Ed was out of the inn and skidding through the courtyard. Once again he was faced with the portal-wall but this time Ed didn't miss a beat, clapping his hands together and transmuting the bricks in one smooth motion. Since he already knew how to decompose it, he barely had to think about the transmutation.

Ed didn't bother re-transmuting the wall, knowing that it would return to it's original shape without him prompting it so instead he made his way north, hoping that he would be able to spot this "Gringotts" that had been mentioned in the letter. Sure enough, after just a few minutes of brisk walking Ed was fairly certain he had found the place.

The building was simply enormous, towering above the rows of little shops that surrounded it. The bank was also a soft white colour which seemed an odd choice to Ed, it stuck out like a sore thumb but then again, that was probably the point. A nice flamboyant place to store your gold.

Ed was almost intimidated by the fancy design of the building as he made his way inside, through the large bronze doors. Much to his expectation, the interior was just as grand as the exterior, if not more so, however his attention was soon shifted when he noticed the people inside the bank. Or at least, they looked like people...sort of.

Ed was pretty certain that if he didn't already have experience with chimeras and all of the other sorts of awful creations alchemy could produce, his jaw would have hit the floor. Even so, he was still shocked to see the tiny humanoid creatures that made up the majority of the figures in the bank. Most of them were barely the height of his hip, with strange, gnarled features almost like that of a twisted tree. They were everywhere, either perched high at tall desks, feather quill in hand, or running around this way and that way in the busy lobby.

Ed could hardly tear his eyes away from them as he made his way into the building. That was until he was jolted out of his daze when a gruff voice addressed him and he realised that he had been standing at one of the high desks for at least half a minute without saying anything. He'd been too busy staring.

Dragging his eyes over to look at the figure at the desk he quickly discerned that these...creatures must run the place. Nobody else seemed to be having any reaction at all to them, so Ed decided to play along as best he could.

"Sorry about that. I'm Edward Elric. I'm here to withdraw some money." He employed the use of his "serious business" voice as he slid over his letter. He wasn't sure what he was expecting but Ed felt a little affronted when the creature snatched the letter away and began peering closely at it. It did something under the desk that Ed couldn't see, then nodded to itself, satisfied.

"Follow me." it grunted shortly and hopped off of the high stool.

Ed was led through a small maze of halls, down stairs, up stairs, left, right, right again, until they finally stopped in front of a dingy little door surrounded by thick stone. The creature strode forward and opened the door stiffly before gesturing for Ed to enter the room. Inside, it was fairly small with a high ceiling and the walls we lined with shelves, each stacked with drawstring bags of varying sizes.

"This is your Gringotts vault,"the little man recited, "you may deposit or withdraw items from it for the duration of your stay at Hogwarts. Take what you need." The creature made to leave the room until Ed suddenly moved into its path.

"I have a quick question-" He blurted out.

It didn't reply so Ed continued.

"I need to purchase all of these items," He gestured at the list in his hand, "and, well I'm not that familiar with this currency. How much would you recommend I take out?"

The little fellow seemed to consider Ed's inquiry for a moment. Then, without even looking at the list it walked over to one of the shelves withthe largeststack of drawstring bags and snatched up three.

"Here. This should cover everything you need and some extra for any emergencies."

With a nod and a thank you, Ed pocketed the littlemoney sacks and was escorted back into the main lobby of the bank.

Everything considered, that could have gone a lot worse, thought Ed as he left the building, this time weighed down by the coins in his pockets.

With the bank out of the way, Ed was able to check off his first item from his mental to do list. He then retrieved his letter from his pocket see what was up next.

Over next three hours, Ed spent his time running, ducking and diving through the crowds, into numerous shops on the high street in search of every item he could possibly need.

His first stop was at the book shop, of course. Ed purchased everything relevant and then even more, finding it difficult to resist any of the titles which took his fancy. It was a blessing that Ed could actually read most of the titles this time around, rather than just blindly guessing.

By the time Ed left the shop he was struggling to carry his enormous stack of books which was balanced precariously high. His battle with gravity was not helped by the fact that his arm was playing up again, the joints once again feeling as if they were moving through treacle. He would definitely need to check it out later.

The next shops Ed visited were all for small purchases of various miscellaneous items. However Ed did think that it was rather excessive that he had to buy an entire cauldron that practically weighed a ton. What on earth could he ever need that for? He knew potions were a thing but seriously? Why couldn't he just use a large bowl?

When it came to purchasing the uniform, Ed refused to buy anything more than absolutely necessary, which for him translated to exactly one set of robes and zero pointed hats. This was a decision that was fiercely argued against by the shop owner but Ed wouldn't budge from his decision. There was no way he would ever be caught dead in one of those monstrosities.

It was midday by the time Ed reached the final item on his list. A wand. Oh Boy, this would be interesting.

Finding the wand shop was easy enough. Ed stumbled across it quite by accident whilst he was browsing a quieter part of the street. He was immediately drawn towards it, intrigued by the dark windows and rickety design.

A little bell rang above the doorway as Ed made his way inside, however there seemed to be nobody around. Ed glanced around the small shop for a moment, taking in the shadowy corners and the walls which were stacked with rows of small drawers.

"Hello..." Ed's voice echoed slightly within the dusty room. He waited for a few moments with growing impatience before moving towards the main desk.

"Hey. Is anyone in here?' Ed tried again, a little louder. This time he was rewarded with a small crash from way back in the shop and some muffled yelling. Alarmed, Ed was about to rush towards the source of the noise when hurried footsteps sounded from down the hall. Then, almost out of nowhere an old man looking rather frazzled rounded a corner and marched into the room.

He took one look at Ed, his curiously pale eyes shining, before striding over and taking him firmly by the hand.

"So sorry about all of that." He said with vigorous handshake. "I've been run off my feet recently, what with the new school year starting. Lots of supplies to organise out back. Anyway I am Ollivander and I presume you must be here for a wand, correct?"

"Yeah. I'm not really sure how to pick one though, they all seem really diff-"

"Ah! My young lad," the old man cried, throwing his hands up, "as I tell many a young wand buyer: it is not you who chooses the wand, but it is the wand that chooses you."

Ed frowned at the man's words but was intruiged despite himself. Once again deciding to just go with the flow, Ed rubbed his hands together and stepped forward.

" Alright then, so how does this work?"

Without another word, Ollivander took out his own wand then flicked it a couple of times. A small tape measure came flying from a drawer on the wall and begun flitting around Ed like a small bird, taking measurements all over his body.

It was difficult for Ed not to gape at the flying object that moved as if it were alive.

After a while the old wand maker seemed satisfied and with another flick of his wand the tape measure flung itself back into the drawer.

"Now," he said, coming forward, "which is your wand arm my boy?"

"My what?"

"You've had a wand before, yes?" Ollivander peered at Ed questioningly when the teen shook his head. "I must say, you're a little old to be buying a wand for the first time. What ever did you use before?"

For a moment Ed's mind scrambled for something plausible to reply with before he remembered his usual fall-back story.

"My family, we were kind of poor so wands weren't exactly our main priority. We just had this one that we used between us, but I think it must have gotten broken or lost when we left." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Even ifwhat he saidwasn't entirely true, it still felt awkward to recite his sob story which contained just enough of his own past to be believable.

Ollivander nodded, his face unreadable as he thought. "Hmm, an unfortunate tale that is. A wand is never at its best when shared but I suppose you made do as best you could. Frankly, I'm surprised it worked at all. Now then, we must continue. Which is your dominant hand?"

"Right-actually, no left. I think."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm kind of, what's the word? Both-handed?"

"Ambidextrous? How curious..." The old man scratched his chin thoughtfully then turned on his heel and walked over to a stack of boxes. He flitted around for a few seconds, opening and closing various lids before withdrawing a single wand. Ed eyed the thing suspiciously.

"Here." Ollivander declared, holding out the stick to Ed, "Give this one a try. Just a flick will do. It's unicorn hair and Acacia wood. A bit short I must say but-"

Ed snarled at the word short, curling his lip as he grabbed the wand from the man with his left hand. He felt utterly stupid as he flicked it around once only to have nothing happen.

"Try the other hand." Ollivander prompted.

Ed switched hands but was once again rewarded with nothing. Less than a second passed before the wand was plucked from his grip and replaced with another and then, when that one failed to do anything, it was also replaced.

It was impossible to count how many wands Ed went through that afternoon; Ollivander worked quickly, being able to recognise a bad match within a split second of Ed taking hold of the wand. However, the more wands Ed tried, the more frustrated he became. He was so very close to snapping when suddenly Ollivander let out a small noise of triumph from where he was balanced on a small stool. The man had been searching for one particular wand which he claimed would be "perfect", right at the back of the shop. He was elbow high in a pile of boxes but then withdrew brandishing a thin, pale wand which was almost golden in colour.

"I have a good feeling about this one." Pale eyes watched closely as Ed took the wand. He had said that at least four times already, so Ed held little hope, but he still took the stick hoping to just get this over with already.

To his surprise, a minute wisp of blue light began to leak out of the tip of the wand. It was weak and Ed switched arms so that he was holding it with his gloved automail hand. A brief moment of nothing passed, then Ed twitched his hand ever so slightly and suddenly the room lit up as a great stream of icy blue and bright golden sparks leapt from the wand tip.

Ollivander gave a whoop at the sight, clapping his hands together. "Ah yes, simply wonderful! A true match if I ever saw one."

"Woah." Ed breathed, watching the lights dance and fizzle out until the shop turned dark once again. He had certainly been sceptical about magic. Even now, just a day before leaving to attend a magic school he had to admit he still saw it as little more than a gimmick, the scientist inside him unwilling to let go of what he knew. However, Ed could not deny the rush of warmth and wonder he had felt just now, witnessing his first ever use of magic. It was exhilarating and almost addictive and Ed knew that there was a smile plastered all over his face.

"A fine wand that is." Ollivander addressed Ed once again. "It's a dragon core, so you may find it rather stubborn at times however, paired with pine wood, I trust that you shall find this avery adaptable wand. Indeed, I may even be inclined to believe that you will go on to do great things with this wand. Great things!"

Ed paid for the wand with eight large coins, which he presumed were called galleons, and two smaller ones before sliding it into a small opening he created in the inside of his coat. Leaving the shop, Ed found that he suddenly felt a lot less like an outsider to this world. He had a wand, so now he was one of them. All he had t do now was figure out how to use it.

Full of optimism and determination, Ed began to make his way back to the Leaky Cauldron. He hoped he could use the rest of the day to make some headway with learning basic spells, however something soon caught his attention.

Back when Ed had skimmed through the required item list at the inn, he had instantly skipped over the part that stated that he could bring an animal toHogwarts with him. It had seemed trivial and unnecessary at the time, and still did for that matter but now Ed found himself stood at a storefront, transfixed with the abundance of little animals inside. He desperately wanted to get back to his room, but something made him hesitate.

I guess there's no harm in just taking a look. Ed shrugged to himself.

The inside the shop was much more cramped than it looked. Ed practically had to squeeze himself through the entrance hall which was cluttered with an array of different items, ranging from cages of every size, to bags of food and wooden posts. The main shop was just as messy, the confined space made even smaller by the sheer racket coming from the caged animals on the walls.

Once again, the shop owner was nowhere to be seen so Ed took his time, gazing partially in horror and partially in awe at all of different animals on sale. A large proportion of the creatures were just regular animals: cats and rats, owls, frogs and even large ravens that screeched when he got too close. The other side of the shop however, was populated with a strange assortment of unusual animals that Ed couldn't even begin to name. He decided to stay far away from them, fairly certain that they wouldn't hesitate to set him on fire if he so much as brushed past.

He was about to leave the shop, satisfied that there was nothing here that he could possibly want, when he made eye contact with a small grey cat. It was in a large box, distanced from the others, with a scowl on its face. It looked utterly miserable. In that moment, Ed knew that resistance was futile. Just looking at it, he could practically hear Al's voice ringing in his ear, telling him that he simply had to buy it because it looks so sad and lonely.

"Ugh, damn it Al." Ed groaned at his younger brother's influence over him, even across worlds. Begrudgingly, Ed leaned down and gently picked up the cat. For a moment, it struggled violently in his grip, hissing and scratching until he tossed it into his hood. Immediately, the cat settled down and contentedly looked up at Ed from where it was nestled in the thick fabric.

"Alright, let's just pay and get out of here little guy." Ed mumbled.

It turned out that the cat was pretty expensive. It cost Ed one more galleon than his wand had, making Ed question these magical folks abilities to price things correctly.

"That really made a dent in my emergency fund." Ed realised when he was back in his room. The alchemist had recently returned, hauling his day's purchases through the tiny back door of the inn. Somehow, he had managed to take everything up the stairs in one trip. This was truly a remarkable feat considering the sheer volume of items he had to carry.

Now, he was sat at the foot of his bed, cat curled up in his lap, trying to figure out how he was going to be able to fit all of his stuff into a single suitcase.

"You know, I really have to give you a name, don't I little guy." He said suddenly. Since there was nobody around, he spoke in Amestrian, finding himself unable to care about practicing English right now. It had been a rough day.

The cat looked up at him, wide eyes unblinking. Ed cocked his head down at the animal, studying it's little grey face before chuckling. Over the cat's nose were two jagged stripes of black fur that had gone unnoticed before. They curled down towards its mouth before tapering off into points. Kind of like a scar.

"Scar eh? What do you think? Sound bad ass enough for you? You act just like him." If cats could roll their eyes, Ed was pretty sure he had just witnessed it as the newly christened Scar slowly turned away from him and continued sleeping. A sudden thought struck Ed and much to the protest of Scar, he lifted the cat up to look at its stomach.

"Aw man, you're a girl?" Ed snickered, shrugging. "Oh well, it's too late to change your name now. I am so telling Scar about this when I get back." Ed laughed to himself as he plopped the little cat onto the bed. Offended at such treatment, Scar skittered to the far side and curled up next to the wall.

Distraction over, Ed returned his attention to his current predicament. How was he going to fit an entire room worth of stuff into what was barely a one meter bythirty centimeter case?

Narrowing his eyes, Ed sized up the black suitcase. Perhaps he could use alchemy to make it bigger? No, that would just result in him lugging a twenty foot long bag onto a train. Could he make the items smaller? No again. Equivalent exchange stated that the extra mass of the deconstructed items would have to go somewhere and besides, there was no way Ed would be able to reconstruct an entire book exactly how it had been before. That would mean knowing the exact contents ofevery book which kind of defeated the purpose of him taking them to Hogwarts.

Ed threw his head back to rest it on the edge of the bed and groaned. Normally he never would have had to pack this much. Whenever he traveled from place to place in Amestris, he would have a single bag to carry extra clothes and perhaps a book or two at the most. If only there was a way to reduce the mass of the items then...perhaps there was a way.

Snapping his head back up, Ed looked around for a moment before spying what he needed. He jumped up and made his way over to one of his stacks of books, grabbing one and promptly flopping onto his bed. Scar hissed as she was yet again displaced before she decided that Ed's side was actually a pretty comfortable place to curl up against.

Quickly, Ed paged through the thick book of charms he had retrieved, keen eyes looking out for anything that could relate to size. This book had been one of the first on his list, so surely it would contain some kind of basic spell he could use. Soon enough, Ed had two pages marked, each containing information on two specific spells that worked together to shrink and enlarge objects.

Frankly, Ed was actually surprised that he had found the spells so easily. And that they even existed. Apparently magic could actually be useful, who knew? Now it was just a question of whether he would be able to perform it.

Ed realised that he was really taking quite a gamble here. He had never performed any type of magic before so this could either turn out awesomely, or...not so awesomely. Either way, there was no way he wasn't at least going to try. It wasn't like it was dangerous or anything.

Grabbing his wand from where it lay on his desk, Ed found the item that had caused him the greatest amount of grief during his journey through Diagon Alley. The cauldron. If anything deserved to be destroyed by his first spell, it was that.

Ed hefted the massive iron pot onto the desk so that he had a clear shot at it, then re-read the page on the spell that he would be using. It seemed simple enough in theory. Say the spell, flick his wand and poof. It should be smaller. It irritated Ed slightly that there was no instruction on how to choose how much smaller the item would become, but that was just something he would have to deal with.

Ed picked up his wand, rolling it between his palms before choosing to use his right hand. "Alright...here goes. Reducio!" Ed put great effort into enunciating the spell properly, at the same time he flicked his wand up then down sharply. A bright flash of purple light shot out from the wand tip, but even as it flew Ed knew that his aim was way off.

The single flash of colour zoomed forward, sailing past the cauldron and hitting the surface of the desk instead. Brighter purple flashed around the desk for a moment before, quite suddenly it seemed almost to collapse in on itself.With the desk gone, nothing remained to support the cauldron, which crashed to the floor with heavy thunk that did not bode well for the floorboards.

Ed cringed at the noise, half expecting Tom to thunder upstairs and yell at him for destroying his inn again. Nothing happened after a full minute a waiting, so Edcautiously proceeded to pick up the the fallen pot, then gasped.

Hidden under the upturned cauldron lay an exact miniature replica of the large wooden desk that had stood there previously. Ed picked it up gently, easily able to fit it in the palm of his hand as he examined it in amazement. The spell had actually worked, Ed realised. His first spell had succeeded!

Ed let out a great yell of triumph, punching the air with his fist. It may not have gone exactly as planned, and he definitely had a long way to go before he would ever be able to perform magic without the aid of a book, but this small victory meant a lot.

Grinning, Ed readied his wand once more. Now that he had this one spell down, he knew that he had a long night of packing ahead of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty bad ngl, and I probably didn't dedicate enough time to the fact that Ed completely forgot about the fight but I kind of feel like it's not the kind of thing Ed would dwell on for that long. I dunno, it's not exactly my biggest plot point right now.  
> Also, if anyone wants to let out some pent up rage and harshly critique my writing, go ahead because this is garbage.
> 
> On another note, that letter from good ol Dumbledore was weird to write and let me know that I have no clue how to write formal letters.
> 
> I wrote this chapter whilst sick so if you see any errors that you suspect may have been due to my illness induced haze, please do point them out and I will do my best to fix them. :)


	8. Ed throws a tantrum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /an/apparently it's supposed to be raining at this point in the actual book but yk, rain is for people who care about pathetic fallacy and all that nonsense, I'm not about that life also I'm lazy af. fun fact, many times throughout this chapter I had a strong urge for Ed to yell yeet. if hp was set in 2018 you know I'd do it. on the other hand I realised every 80s song is available in hp and I Will make use of this at some point I promise you :)

King's Cross station was alive with movement the next morning. The daily load of thousands of commuters heaved through the station as if the crowd was a single mass that could break and reform at will. Not unlike Pride's shadows, Ed thought absentmindedly as he mingled among them, a bright red blip within the normal flow.

His destination was the elusive "Platform 9 3/4", which, when he first heard of it, had seemed a rather odd name. If what little Tom had told Ed about the platform was any indication, then he was going to have to employ the use of every ounce of imagination he had to find it because apparently, it was common wizard practice to disguise anything and everything to do with magic. Stupidly, Ed hadn't pushed the man for details, not wanting to further any lingering suspicions Tom may have had regarding his familiarity with magic.

However now Ed was seeing the error in his actions; Tom had completely refrained from telling him exactly how he would find the platform and from where he was stood, right between platforms nine and ten, it certainly didn't seem to even exist.

Baffled, Ed took a moment to gaze at the spot where Platform 9 3/4 should technically have been. Of course, wizards, Ed was learning, were not confined by such things as logic and reason and the physically possible. He grumbled under his breath before turning on his heel and speeding off to explore the rest of the train station.

King's Cross station itself was exceedingly beautiful Ed soon realised. It outshone even the large one in Central by far, with its sleek, globed glass roof which sprouted from the smooth grey floor in a way that almost looked organic. It was quite unusual.

Due to his early arrival, which Ed was now thankful for, he took his time exploring the vast building in search of the hidden platform. He skirted around the entirety of the lower floor from shop to shop, keeping an eye out for anyone he might suspect to also be travelling to Hogwarts whilst simultaneously managing to obtain a newspaper and a large cup of coffee. He was just paying for said coffee with the last dregs of his muggle money when he caught sight of a tell-tale swish of a cloak and a trunk that was far too large to be practical. Bingo.

Swiftly, Ed scooped up his own travelling case and began a leisurely pursuit of the young wizard, who was visibly much younger than Ed and apparently didn't know the meaning of the word "discreet". His billowing cloak, paired with a bright yellow scarf made the boy stand out even more than Ed as he jogged through the station. He seemed to be making a beeline for platforms 9 and 10.

A triumphant remark died in Ed's throat as he pursued the boy, momentarily forgetting that it was Scar and not Al accompanying him.

As the boy neared the edge of the platforms, Ed made sure to keep him in plain sight, in fact, he was close enough now that if the boy stopped abruptly, it would be impossible for Ed to avoid a collision.

This was why, when the boy suddenly vanished from right in front of Ed, there was little he could do to stop himself face planting directly into the wall that had materialised in his place. Instinctively, Ed's eyes scrunched closed as he braced for the inevitable impact... which never came.

Slowly, Ed opened one eye, with the second flying open barely a second later.

"Wha-?" Ed gasped. Suddenly, he was no longer on the shiny, modern platform in King's Cross station, but was instead surrounded by wizards and billowing smoke. And there, not ten metres from where he stood, was a great train brandishing the name "The Hogwarts Express" in sleek golden lettering.

The Hogwarts Express was magnificent. At least, that was what Ed thought as he gazed up at the red beast, mystified. Truly, it was something else, with powerful engines, a great, looming chimney and a crimson body that somehow shone brightly, even through the thick layers of accumulated soot and grease.

The machine itself was not unlike those that ran back in Amestris and Ed couldn't help as nostalgia hit him, thinking back to one of his first assignments from Mustang. It had been two years ago, at least and although that particular mission had gone well enough, it had entailed a bit too much high-speed train hopping for Ed's liking. He shuddered to remember how he had almost fallen from the roof as the train hit a sudden turn in the tracks.

Warily, Ed eyed the steam engine before him.

"Fingers crossed I won't have to climb this thing today," he mumbled to Scar who was once again nestled inside his hood.

A piercing whistle suddenly sounded over the platform. At the noise, the crowd inside the station immediately swelled, transforming the previously calm wizard families into a frenzied herd, all heading towards the train. Ed found himself getting swept away by the sheer force of the people moving past him and he allowed himself to get dragged along for the ride.

As soon as he was close enough, Ed reached out and grabbed one of the handrails on the body of the train and hauled himself inside with a fair amount of effort. There was no way he was waiting till he got to the very back of the train to get inside, he could tell from the sheer volume of the crowd that it was going to be a tight squeeze.

Sure enough, once inside Ed found it no less difficult to fight his way through the onslaught of children and in the end, he resorted to diving into the very first available compartment he came across. Unfortunately, this one had already been claimed, if the large suitcases stacked in the luggage racks were anything to go by.

Not one to be put off by the prospect of intruding, Ed decided that this cabin was as good as any and swiftly plonked himself down in the seat next to the window.

For a handful of moments, everything was peaceful and Ed allowed himself to sink a little into the stiff cushions as the muted sound of a shrill whistle sounded somewhere outside, signalling the train's departure. In the hallway, the commotion seemed to be calming too, with voices become quieter the further the train pulled away from the platform.

Gingerly, Scar clambered her way down into Ed's lap. She seemed rather ruffled after the pandemonium that was the rush to get onto the Hogwarts Express and let Ed know by kneading her claws gently into his knee. Ed was just about to shove her off when the door to the compartment was thrown open and a trio of similarly ruffled looking teens made their way inside. They seemed to be deep in discussion, so it took a moment before one of them realised that Ed was there.

"We'll find out soon enough-" The girl cut herself off upon seeing Ed in the corner if the cabin. "Oh...Um, hello?" Very suddenly, the cheerful atmosphere between the three dissolved into tension in a way that could only be achieved through the sudden arrival of a stranger. It seemed that "getting to know his peers" may be something easier said than done.

Ed mentally went through his current options. On one hand, he could easily save himself the bother of interacting with these teenagers who, other than the girl, were actually acting outwardly hostile towards him for some reason, glaring from where they were stood behind her. Indeed, minimal interaction would be ideal…If this was a one-time meeting. However, Ed realised that he may have to see these people many times; school had an uncanny knack for placing together those who would much rather not be placed together.

And so, Ed came to the decision that the path of least resistance would be the best to follow.

Mentally steeling himself, he threw a tight-lipped smile towards the girl who, of the three, looked the least openly annoyed at his presence.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind me stealing your...train carriage, most of the others were full."

"Oh?" The girl frowned slightly, visibly relaxing. "That's fine, we just weren't expecting anyone to be here." She looked between the two boys beside her, a silent conversation playing out.

Ed nodded, watching the teens as they shuffled into the seats opposite him. They weren't subtle in their attempts to sit as far from him as possible but if they wanted to give him space, Ed wasn't complaining and he took the opportunity to swing his feet up onto the seats next to him so that he could rest against the window.

Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that there wasn't quite enough room for all three on the single bench and after some silent arguing which Ed watched in the corner of his vision, the girl, seemingly against her will, sat down with a huff next to his feet.

For a few minutes, the cabin was fairly silent. Ed pointedly ignored the looks the two boys were giving him, burying his nose in one of the many textbooks he had to memorise before arriving at Hogwarts. He was fairly certain that all of his required material was fairly basic, having been directed towards the books for the first years, however that didn't mean it wasn't tricky for him to wrap his head around.

He had already read over two thirds of the book the previous night, finding himself sucked in by the challenge of learning something completely alien. Just like when he was first learning alchemy, it had quickly became apparent that magic had many strict rules and guidelines which he had to be completely aware of before he actually attempted the magic.

Many of the consequences of dodgy magic didn't seem quite as extreme as the sudden death promised to lazy alchemists, however Ed wasn't going to take any chances. After all, you have to learn the rules before you can break them.

His eyes were just scanning over the last page of the book when he heard a soft gasp from the girl. He flicked his eyes up to see what had happened and found hers to be staring straight at him. She looked so shocked that Ed instantly felt nervous, his heart plummeting at the thought that she had seen his metal arm, or recognised him, even though he knew that was impossible.

She didn't break eye contact for at least three seconds. This was more than enough time for Ed's fragile patience to snap.

"What?" he growled. His harsh tone drew the two boy's attention away from their hushed conversation in the corner. All at once the tension was back.

"Oh, sorry." The girl apologised hastily, as if she hadn't even noticed herself staring. "I just noticed.., well y-,never mind… It's just that I don't think I've ever seen you at Hogwarts before, but you look too old to be a first year."

Nice save, Ed thought to himself.

"Uh-huh, I just transferred." he decided against pushing for an explanation from her. "I have never been to Hogwarts before."

"Oh? That explains why we didn't recognise you. I never knew Hogwarts took transfer students." She offered a small smile. Before Ed could respond her gaze shifted over to the book in his hands.

"You still have to study this even though you're not a first year?" She shuffled closer to peer at the page he was on.

Ed nodded and closed the book with a snap. "Yes. I haven't had any formal magic training before. I know some of the basics but Dumbledore wants to evaluate how much I know before placing me in a group. So for now, I suppose I am technically a first year. "

At this the girl perked up considerably, almost looking excited as she glanced over at her two friends.

"Well, you're in luck because Ron, Harry and I are all in our fourth year." She gestured to each of the boys respectively. "If you need any help, we'd be happy to lend a hand."

"We would?" came the disgruntled voice of the ginger boy Ed now knew to be Ron.

The girl turned to him with a sharp glare. "Yes, of course we would Ron. Come to think of it, I distinctly remember someone needing help to cram the entire second year charms course the night before the exam."

"Hermione," Harry took over the argument as Ron sank into his seat, arms crossed and pouting. "Do we really have time to be teaching a thirteen year old charms, especially after…you know?"

Ed's eyebrow twitched. "Hey!" he shrieked. "I am sixteen you scrawny wizard kid and I could kick your ass! Call me short again, I dare you!" Suddenly he was standing and Harry was looking utterly bewildered.

"Woah! What? I didn't call you short! What are you talking about?"

"You implied it."

"You were reading a first year's textbook! Of course I thought you were young."

Ed didn't have much of a rebuttal for that, realising he had once again succumbed to his violent temper, so instead he narrowed his eyes at Harry, keeping eye contact with his for an awkwardly long time before sitting back down heavily.

"Bloody hell."

The rest of the journey was blissfully uneventful. Ed managed to somewhat make amends for his outburst, striking up a conversation with Hermione about some of the second year potions and giving Harry change when he was one coin short of a "Pumpkin Pasty", which he vehemently reassured Ed that he would pay back later.

Ron however remained in a fiercely bad mood the entire train ride. Ed figured it had something to do with Hermione's scolding. The sulking didn't bother Ed too badly, but he still felt at least partly responsible. He knew all too well that a bruised ego was hard to bounce back from, especially when it comes from a... close friend.

Numerous other students visited the train carriage over the course of the journey, each starting conversations about some sort of "world cup" event which had recently happened. For the most part, Ed tuned out of the conversations unless he was addressed directly, often by either Harry of Hermione asking his opinion on something he had absolutely no clue about. Luckily he was able to believably bullshit most of his responses.

"Definitely rooting for Ireland."

"Read all of the papers as soon as they came out."

"It was super close. I couldn't believe it."

"I still don't understand how they lost."

The conversation however, quickly became much more intricate and passionate. There was no way Ed could have kept up the lies for much longer before he said something completely idiotic so Ed subtly followed Hermione's lead when she removed herself from the conversation in favour of learning a spell from her own spell book. He watched as she practiced the movements of a summoning charm, which he recognised may come in very handy later on so he made a mental note to ask her about it in the future.

Of course, trouble always seemed to follow Ed wherever he went and it wasn't long before Trouble soon came by the carriage under the guise of a young blond boy whose name was apparently Malfoy. Ed immediately disliked him. The very way he conducted himself was far too reminiscent of Pride, his arrogance and self-assurance shining through every word he spoke as he began harassing Ron the moment he appeared.

Despite only having known Ron and the others for no more than three hours, Ed felt a strange sense of protectiveness over them. Perhaps it was just his survival instinct kicking in, making him latch onto the first somewhat friendly faces in an unfamiliar territory, but very early on in scene Malfoy was making, he physically had to stop himself walking up to him and throwing him out of the window.

Ed reminded himself that he was probably older than the kid, as if that morally justified the fact that he wasn't stepping in to help Ron, whose god-awful robes were now clutched in the bony hands of Malfoy who was cackling. It was only when the brat started making fun of Ron's family that Ed finally had enough.

He had seen the momentary flash on Ron's face before he was seething again. Malfoy had hit something that pushed Ron further than just irritation and anger. It was definitely time for him to leave.

"Hey dipshit!" Ed called. The train carriage fell silent.

Slowly, Malfoy looked over to where Ed was sitting calmly in the corner.

"What did you just call me?" He snarled.

"I don't do repeats. Listen better next time buttercup."

"Who the hell are you?"

"That doesn't really matter, kid." Ed stood up and made his way over to Malfoy, neither of them breaking eye contact. Ed ground his teeth when he arrived just in front of the teen; he stood at least an inch shorter although they were both wearing platforms.

Aware he had an audience, Ed turned up the drama, pulling down his glove more securely over his left hand and flexing it into a tight fist just below Malfoy's chin.

"What does matter," he said slowly, "is that you are acting like a little bitch, so I think it's time you run along and go cry in the toilet or something." As he was talking, Ed noticed the two boys that had entered with Malfoy were coming closer, one either side of Ed, ready to step in physically when the blond told them to.

Ed was surprised when Malfoy didn't respond for a moment. He continued to look at Ed with an expression akin to disgust until seeming to reach some kind of epiphany in the dramatic, internal monologue he was no doubt having. A smirk tugged the corners of his lips as he looked over at Harry.

"What's this Potter?" he cooed. "Got yourself a new bodyguard to fight your battles for you? Was Granger just not cutting it anymore?"

"Shut it Malfoy!" Ron called from somewhere behind.

"Bodyguard?" Ed asked incredulously. No response came from Malfoy, whose gaze was still locked on Harry. He attempted to walk past Ed, apparently intending to knock him back as he flourished past, knocking shoulders, but Ed placed a hand on his chest. Malfoy came to an abrupt halt.

"I don't think so buddy, you're staying in the doorway."

"Take your hand off me shrimp."

Red.

Dangerously calm. Ed pressed harder against Malfoy. "What did you just say to me?"

Somewhere in the background Ron could be heard despairing. "Oh no."

"Now who's not listening? Shrimp." Malfoy rebutted.

Ed chuckled. "Oh, I heard you alright, I was just making sure in case I was mistaken."

"Mistaken about what?" Malfoy pushed back.

"About this."

Ed suddenly released the pressure he was putting on Malfoy's chest, making him stumble forward. At the same time he brought round his other arm and caught the teen in a headlock. Predictably, Malfoy's two friends rushed forward immediately at the sight. Ed, still holding Malfoy's head, stepped backwards then spun, bodily throwing him through the door where he dramatically slumped to the floor.

"That was for calling me short you slimy bastard!"

In the reflection of the window in front of him Ed suddenly saw the largest of the two friends lunge at his back. A moment later he was also in the air, flying through the doorway to land heavily on his butt.

By this point, Ron was in stitches, wheezing at the back of the carriage as Ed rounded on the last of Malfoy's minions who was fumbling with his pockets. A quick swipe at his shins brought the boy down and before he could scramble back up, Ed picked him up by the back of his trousers and shirt collar and sent him headfirst out of the carriage too.

As Ed walked over to the sliding door, Malfoy was in the process of getting up from the floor. He was looking at Ed with a mixture of hatred, anger and just a little bit of fear.

"You won't get away with this." He sputtered out. "My father will hear about this and then you'll be nothing!"

"Hmmm. Sure, kid. Have fun with that." Ed replied as he began to slide the door shut.

"I mean it!"

"Bye-bye Malfoy!"

Click. Just to be petty Ed flicked the lock on the door closed and he turned away from the still-fuming Malfoy in the hallway.

"Where the hell did you learn that?" Ron squawked as soon as Ed was facing them again. Each of the occupants of the carriage were looking at Ed with varying levels of shock, bewilderment and exhasperation.

"Back home." Ed wandered back to his seat. "I had a great teacher. She was brilliant but…strict." Ed held back the shudder that always followed any mention of Izumi.

Gradually, everybody returned to their seats. Outside, a few large droplets of rain hit the window as the train accelerated towards a dark patch of sky.

And then they were all laughing. A chain reaction, starting with Ron and ending with Hermione had them all snickering and grinning like cats.

"That was brilliant!"

"Did you see Crabbe's face?"

"I can't believe you sent Malfoy flying!"

"This might one-up Hermione's punch!"

"My father will hear about this!"

They were all still smirking as they changed into their uniforms and the train slowly shuddered to a halt.

It was completely dark outside. Ed realised that the train journey had somehow taken the majority of the day, despite only feeling like a few hours. A rumble of thunder greeted the four of them as they stepped out, into the storm which had only increased in intensity since the first few rain drops.

Ed quickly pulled up his hood, allowing Scar to perch at the crook of his neck. He could hear her claws digging into the metal of his shoulder in an attempt to hold on against the fierce wind and was suddenly glad she had chosen his right side. Her body heat, whilst fairly little also helped to ease the crick in his automail joint that was slowly building due to the moisture.

Ed would count himself lucky if he was able to sleep at all this night. It was unlikely. He and the rain were not exactly a great match.

A few meters away, Ed could see Harry and the others talking to someone. He could hear the man's booming voice even through the torrential wind and rain and quickly made his way over to the group. He arrived just in time to catch Hermione say something about crossing a lake.

Ed decided not to ask until they were safely away, inside the carriages on the furthest side of the platform.

"The lake?" Hermione answered when he brought it up. "Yes, Hogwarts has this tradition that all of the first years arrive at the school by boat. They arrive at a different entrance so that they are kept separate from the older students."

"Ah. Whoops." Ed chuckled.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"I think I was meant to take the lake route. My letter said that I was to "arrive with the first years" which I assume also meant arriving by boat." Ed grinned.

"You really missed out on a good one there mate." Ron piped up. "Really, what could be better than a peaceful boat ride through torrential rain with a bunch of kids?"

"Yeah," Ed replied, leaning back in his seat and placing his hands behind his head. "What a shame I missed that experience."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /an/ writing the Malfoy scene was actually a lot of fun (even though it highlighted the fact that I still don't know how to write HP characters) and now I have a personal mission: how many deadly sin traits can I give Malfoy? He's still a bit of a piece of shit during the Goblet of fire so I ain't gonna hold back. Also I'm sorry for my massive hiatus again. I was once again a bit stuck with this story because what is plot amirite. sorry this is a bit short but soooon Ed shall enter the mythical castle and shit may hit the fan in a few chapters. also I'm sorry that I used the "Ed meets the main trio on the train" trope/cliché but this fic is completely self indulgent and it seemed like a pretty logical place for them to meet.
> 
> Thanks for reading my wonderful dudes :)


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